Selective Laser Sintering of WC-Co Mixture for Rapid Tooling

쾌속 금형 제작을 위한 텅스텐 카바이드와 코발트 혼합물의 선택적 레이저 소결

This paper describes the experimental results on direct selective laser sintering of WC-Co mixture for rapid tooling. The experiments were carried out within an air, argon and nitrogen atmosphere. Coupons of single layer were sintered at various laser powers, scanning speeds and scan spacings. As the energy density (energy per unit scanned area) is increased, the thickness of coupons is increased. The main problem took place during sintering within an air atmosphere was severe oxidation of WC-Co mixture. As the laser power is increased and/or scanning speed is decreased, more severe oxidation occurred. Within an argon and nitrogen atmosphere the oxidation is reduced significantly. Experiments on multi-layer sintering were also carried out.