• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제24권3호
• /
• pp.202-209
• /
• 2017

A cold-work tool steel powder is used to fabricate 3-dimensional objects by selective laser melting using a high-pressure gas atomization process. The spherical powder particles form continuous carbide networks among the austenite matrix and its decomposition products. The carbides comprise Nb-rich MC and Mo-rich $M_2C$. In the SLM process, the process parameters such as the laser power (90 W), layer thickness ($25{\mu}m$), and hatch spacing ($80{\mu}m$) are kept fixed, while the scan speed is changed from 50 mm/s to 4000 mm/s. At a low scan speed of 50 mm/s, spherical cavities develop due to over melting, while they are substantially reduced on increasing the speed to 2000 mm/s. The carbide network spacing decreases with increasing speed. At an excessively high speed of 4000 mm/s, long and irregularly shaped cavities are developed due to incomplete melting. The influence of the scan pattern is examined, for which $1{\times}1 mm^2$ blocks constituting a processing layer are irradiated in a random sequence. This island-type pattern exhibits the same effect as that of a low scan speed. Post processing of an object using hot isostatic pressing leads to a great reduction in the porosity but causes coarsening of the microstructure.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제24권3호
• /
• pp.187-194
• /
• 2017

Selective laser melting (SLM) can produce a layer of a metal powder and then fabricate a three-dimensional structure by a layer-by-layer method. Each layer consists of several lines of molten metal. Laser parameters and thermal properties of the materials affect the geometric characteristics of the melt pool such as its height, depth, and width. The geometrical characteristics of the melt pool are determined herein by optical microscopy and three-dimensional bulk structures are fabricated to investigate the relationship between them. Powders of the commercially available Fe-based tool steel AISI H13 and Ni-based superalloy Inconel 738LC are used to investigate the effect of material properties. Only the scan speed is controlled to change the laser parameters. The laser power and hatch space are maintained throughout the study. Laser of a higher energy density is seen to melt a wider and deeper range of powder and substrate; however, it does not correspond with the most highly densified three-dimensional structure. H13 shows the highest density at a laser scan speed of 200 mm/s whereas Inconel 738LC shows the highest density at 600 mm/s.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제31권1호
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2024

This study explores the profound impact of varying oxygen content on microstructural and mechanical properties in specimens HO and LO. The higher oxygen concentration in specimen HO is found to significantly influence alpha lath sizes, resulting in a size of 0.5-1 ㎛, contrasting with the 1-1.5 ㎛ size observed in specimen LO. Pore fraction, governed by oxygen concentration, is high in specimen HO, registering a value of 0.11%, whereas specimen LO exhibits a lower pore fraction (0.02%). Varied pore types in each specimen further underscore the role of oxygen concentration in shaping microstructural morphology. Despite these microstructural variations, the average hardness remains consistent at ~370 HV. This study emphasizes the pivotal role of oxygen content in influencing microstructural features, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interplay between elemental composition and material properties.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 제어로봇시스템학회 2005년도 ICCAS
• /
• pp.2170-2174
• /
• 2005

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a useful rapid prototyping technique for the manufacture of three dimensional (3D) solid objects directly from a scanning data. A new approach called a Selective Multi-Laser Sintering (SMLS) system has been developed at Korea Institute Machinery & Materials (KIMM) as an industrial type SFFS. This SMLS machine is built with a frame, heaters, nitrogen supply part, laser system. This system uses the dual laser and 3D scanner made in $Solutionix^{TM}$ to improve the precision and speed for large objects. The three-dimensional solid objects are made of polyamide powder. The investigation on each part of SMLS system is performed to determine the proper theirs design and the effect of experimental parameters on making the 3D objects. The temperature of the system has a great influence on sintering the polymer. Because the stability of the powder temperature prevents the deformation of each layer, the controls of the temperature in both the system and the powders are very important during the process. Therefore, we simulated the temperature distribution of build room using the temperature analysis with ANSYS program. Selected radiant heater is used to raise temperature of powder to melting point temperature. The laser parameters such as scan spacing, scan speed, laser power and laser delay time affect the production the 3D objects too. The combination of the slow scan speed and the high laser power shows the good results without the layer curling. The work is under way to evaluate the effect of experimental parameters on process and to produce the various objects. We are going to experiment continuously to improve the size accuracy and surface roughness.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제25권2호
• /
• pp.137-143
• /
• 2018

In this study, two types of SKD61 tool-steel samples are built by a selective laser melting (SLM) process using the different laser scan speeds. The characteristics of two kinds of SKD61 tool-steel powders used in the SLM process are evaluated. Commercial SKD61 tool-steel power has a flowability of 16.68 sec/50 g and its Hausner ratio is calculated to be 1.25 by apparent and tapped density. Also, the fabricated SKD61 tool steel powder fabricated by a gas atomization process has a flowability of 21.3 sec/50 g and its Hausner ratio is calculated to be 1.18. Therefore, we confirmed that the two powders used in this study have excellent flowability. Samples are fabricated to measure mechanical properties. The highest densities of the SKD61 tool-steel samples, fabricated under the same conditions, are $7.734g/cm^3$ (using commercial SKD61 powder) and $7.652g/cm^3$ (using fabricated SKD61 powder), measured with Archimedes method. Hardness is measured by Rockwell hardness testing equipment 5 times and the highest hardnesses of the samples are 54.56 HRC (commercial powder) and 52.62 HRC (fabricated powder). Also, the measured tensile strengths are approximately 1,721 MPa (commercial SKD61 powder) and 1,552 MPa (fabricated SKD61 powder), respectively.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제5권3호
• /
• pp.199-209
• /
• 1998

A new low melting inorganic binder, monoclinic $HBO_2$, has been developed for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) of alumina powder by dehydration process of boron oxide powder in a vacuum oven at $120^{\circ}C$. It led to better green SLS parts and higher bend strength far green and fired parts compared to other inorganic binders such as aluminum and ammmonium phosphate. This appeared to be due to its low viscosity and better wettability of the alumina particle surface. A low density single phase ceramic, aluminum borate ($Al_{18}B_4O_{33}$), and multiphase ceramic composites, $A_{12}O_3-A_{14}B_2O_9$, were successfully developed by laser processing of alumina-monoclinic $HBO_2$ powder blends followed by post-thermal processing; both $Al_{18}B_4O_{33}$ and $A_{14}B_2O_9$ have whisker-like grains. The physical and mechanical properties of these SLS-processed ceramic parts were correlated to the materials and processing parameters. Further densification of the $A_{12}O_3-A_{14}B_2O_9$ ceramic composites was carried out by infiltration of colloidal silica, and chromic acid into these porous SLS parts followed by heat-treatment at high temperature ($1600^{\circ}C$). The densities obtained after infiltration and subsequent firing were between 75 and 80% of the theoretical densities. The bend strengths are between 15 and 33 MPa.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제21권1호
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2014

Medical technologies are gaining in importance because of scientific and technical progress in medicine and the increasing average lifetime of people. This has opened up a huge market for medical devices, where complex-shaped metallic parts made from biocompatible materials are in great demand. Today many of these components are already being manufactured by powder metallurgy technologies. This includes mass production of standard products and also customized components. In this paper some aspects related to metal injection molding of Ti and its alloys as well as modifications of microstructure and surface finish were discussed. The process chain of additive manufacturing (AM) was described and the current state of the art of AM processes like Selective Laser Melting and electron beam melting for medical applications was presented.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제28권2호
• /
• pp.134-142
• /
• 2021

In this study, AlSi10Mg powders with average diameters of 44 ㎛ are additively manufactured into bulk samples using a selective laser melting (SLM) process. Post-heat treatment to reduce residual stress in the as-synthesized sample is performed at different temperatures. From the results of a tensile test, as the heat-treatment temperature increases from 270 to 320℃, strength decreases while elongation significantly increases up to 13% at 320℃. The microstructures and tensile properties of the two heat-treated samples at 290 and 320℃, respectively, are characterized and compared to those of the as-synthesized samples. Interestingly, the Si-rich phases that network in the as-synthesized state are discontinuously separated, and the size of the particle-shaped Si phases becomes large and spherical as the heat-treatment temperature increases. Due to these morphological changes of Si-rich phases, the reduction in tensile strengths and increase in elongations, respectively, can be obtained by the post-heat treatment process. These results provide fundamental information for the practical applications of AlSi10Mg parts fabricated by SLM.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제28권5호
• /
• pp.410-416
• /
• 2021

Ti-6Al-4V alloy has a wide range of applications, ranging from turbine blades that require smooth surfaces for aerodynamic purposes to biomedical implants, where a certain surface roughness promotes biomedical compatibility. Therefore, it would be advantageous if the high volumetric density is maintained while controlling the surface roughness during the LPBF of Ti-6Al-4V. In this study, the volumetric energy density is varied by independently changing the laser power and scan speed to document the changes in the relative sample density and surface roughness. The results where the energy density is similar but the process parameters are different are compared. For comparable energy density but higher laser power and scan speed, the relative density remained similar at approximately 99%. However, the surface roughness varies, and the maximum increase rate is approximately 172%. To investigate the cause of the increased surface roughness, a nonlinear finite element heat transfer analysis is performed to compare the maximum temperature, cooling rate, and lifetime of the melt pool with different process parameters.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제27권2호
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2020

Aluminum (Al) - based powders have attracted attention as key materials for 3D printing because of their excellent specific mechanical strength, formability, and durability. Although many studies on the fabrication of 3D-printed Al-based alloys have been reported, the influence of the size of raw powder materials on the bulk samples processed by selective laser melting (SLM) has not been fully investigated. In this study, AlSi10Mg powders of 65 ㎛ in average particle size, prepared by a gas atomizing process, are additively manufactured by using an SLM process. AlSi10Mg powders of 45 ㎛ average size are also fabricated into bulk samples in order to compare their properties. The processing parameters of laser power and scan speed are optimized to achieve densified AlSi10Mg alloys. The Vickers hardness value of the bulk sample prepared from 45 ㎛-sized powders is somewhat higher than that of the 65 ㎛m-sized powder. Such differences in hardness are analyzed because the reduction in melt pool size stems from the rapid melting and solidification of small powders, compared to those of coarse powders, during the SLM process. These results show that the size of the powder should be considered in order to achieve optimization of the SLM process.