ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

UNIT IV

POWDER BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

Selective Laser Sintering – Principles of SLS process - Process, advantages and applications, Three-
dimensional Printing - Principle process, advantages and applications - Laser Engineered Net Shaping
(LENS), Electron Beam Melting.

Discrete Particle Systems

• Discrete particles are normally powders that are graded into a uniform size and shape and
narrow distribution.
• The finer the particles the better, but there will be problems if the dimensions get too small
in terms of controlling the distribution and dispersion.
• The conventional 1D channel approach uses a laser to produce thermal energy in a controlled
manner to raise the temperature sufficiently to melt the powder.
• Polymer powders must therefore exhibit thermoplastic behavior so that they can be melted
and re-melted to permit bonding of one layer to another.
The two main polymer-based systems commercially available are the;
• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology marketed by 3D Systems.
• The EOSint processes developed by the German company EOS.

SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING (SLS)

PRINCIPLE

• Parts are built by sintering when a CO2 laser beam hits a thin layer of powdered material.
• The interaction of the laser beam with the powder raises the temperature to the point of
melting, resulting in particle bonding, fusing the particles to themselves and the previous
layer to form a solid.
• The building of the part is done layer by layer.
• Each layer of the building process contains the cross-sections of one or many parts.
• The next layer is then built directly on top of the sintered layer after an additional layer of
powder is deposited via a roller mechanism on top of the previously formed layer.

MATERIALS
powder material such as nylon, wax, polycarbonate, metal, ceramic, elastomer, etc.

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

PROCESS
• The SLS process creates three-dimensional objects, layer by layer, from CAD data
generated in a CAD software using powdered materials with heat generated by a CO2 laser.
• CAD data files in the STL file format are first transferred to the system where they are sliced.
• SLS process starts and operates as follows:

1. A thin layer of heat-fusible powder is deposited onto the part building chamber.
2. The bottom-most cross-sectional slice of the CAD part under fabrication is selectively
“drawn” (or scanned) on the layer of powder by a heat-generating CO2 laser.
3. The interaction of the laser beam with the powder elevates the temperature to the point of
melting, fusing the powder particles to form a solid mass.
4. The intensity of the laser beam is modulated to melt the powder only in areas defined by the
part’s geometry.
5. Surrounding powder remain loose compact and serve as supports.
6. When the cross-section is completely drawn, an additional layer of powder is deposited via
a roller mechanism on top of the previously scanned layer.
Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

7. This prepares the next layer for scanning.

8. Steps 2 and 6 are repeated, with each layer fusing to the layer below it.
9. Successive layers of powder are deposited and the process is repeated until the part is
completed.

ADVANTAGES:-
 Capable of producing the toughest part compared with other process
 Large variety of material can be used, including most engineering plastic, wax, metal,
ceramic, etc.
 Parts can be produced in short time, normally at a rate of up to 1 inch per hour
 No post curing of parts is required
 During the building process, the part is fully supported by the powder and no additional
support is required.
 Parts can be built on top of others
DISADVANTAGES:-
 The powder material requires to heat up to the temperature below the melting point
before the building process which takes about 2 hours.
 After building the parts, it also takes 5 to 10 hours to cool down before removing the
parts from the powder cylinder.
 The smoothness of the surface is restricted to the size of the powder particles and the
laser spot resulting that the surface of the part is always porous.
 Smooth surface can only be obtained by post processing.
 The process chamber requires continuous supply of nitrogen to provide a safe
environment for the sintering process to be taken place resulting expensive running cost
of the process.
 Toxic gases will be generated from the process which leads to an environmental issue.
 Process using different material require different license
APPLICATION
 Visual representation;
 durable enough for most functional tests;
 Pattern for making soft tooling, casting;
 Direct manufacture of metal mould
 Small batch production run.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING

Three Dimensional Printing is a process under development at MIT for the rapid and
flexible production of prototype parts, end-use parts, and tools directly from a CAD model.
Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Three Dimensional Printing has unprecedented flexibility. It can create parts of any geometry,
and out of any material, including ceramics, metals, polymers and composites. Furthermore, it
can exercise local control over the material composition, microstructure, and surface texture.

PROCESS:

Three Dimensional Printing functions by building parts in layers. From a computer

(CAD) model of the desired part, a slicing algorithm draws detailed information for every layer.
Each layer begins with a thin distribution of powder spread over the surface of a powder bed.
Using a technology similar to ink-jet printing, a binder material selectively joins particles
where the object is to be formed. A piston that supports the powder bed and the part-in-progress
lowers so that the next powder layer can be spread and selectively joined. This layer-by-layer
process repeats until the part is completed. Following a heat treatment, unbound powder is
removed, leaving the fabricated part. The sequence of operations is depicted below

The 3D printing technology is more productive than laser beam melting and
requires no support structure. Besides it provides a good surface quality by using one of
several post processing techniques: Peening/Blasting/Tumbling for average of Ra 3.0 µm
Superfinishing for an average of Ra 1.0 μm down to < 1.0μm But the range of available
materials is limited and mechanical properties achieved can be lower than with laser and
electron beam melting.

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Schematic of 3DPrinter

Stages of operation in 3DP

ADVANTAGE

 The 3DPTM process combines powders and binders with unprecedented geometric
flexibility.
 The support gained from the powder bed means that overhangs, undercuts and internal
volumes can be created (as long as there is a hole for the loose powder to escape).
Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

 3D Printing can form any material that can be obtained as a powder - which is just about
any material.
 Further, because different materials can be dispensed by different print heads, 3D
Printing can exercise control over local material composition.
 Material can be in a liquid carrier, or it can be applied as molten matter. The proper
placement of droplets can be used to create surfaces of controlled texture and to control
the internal microstructure of the printed part.
 The 3DPTM process surpasses conventional powder processing because while the
3DPTM components rival the performance of those made by conventional methods,
there are no tooling or geometric limitations with Three Dimensional Printing.
 Because of its great flexibility in handling a wide range of materials and because of the
unique ability to locally tailor the material composition, Three Dimensional Printing
offers potential for the direct manufacture of structural components with unique
microstructures and capabilities.
 Three Dimensional Printing is also readily scaled in production rate through the use of
multiple nozzle technology which has been commercially developed for printing
images on paper.

APPLICATION

 Three Dimensional Printing has led the field of Rapid Prototyping (RP) in the creation
of functional parts and tooling directly from a CAD model.
 It was the first technology to achieve the fabrication of ceramic parts, and pioneered
the direct fabrication of ceramic molds for casting. Three Dimensional Printing was a
leader in the creation of metal parts directly and in the use of these parts for dies. The
work on ceramic preforms was the first demonstration of a functionally gradient
material by RP. Most recently, we have pioneered the fabrication of structural ceramic
parts using the 3DPTM process

LASER ENGINEERED NET SHAPING (LENS)

Laser engineered net shaping (LENS) developed by Sandia National Laboratories in

1997, has exhibited a great potential to revolutionize the way for metal parts fabrication and
attracted more and more concerns in both academia and industries.Laser engineered net
shaping (LENS) is now serving as one of the key technologies in the direct manufacturing or
Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

repairing of metal parts. Starting from a Computer Aided Design (CAD) solid file, the LENS
process produces parts layer by layer from bottom up with the heat input of a high-powered
laser.
Compared to traditional surface treatment processes, LENS has a higher repair
efficiency, less post processing, higher cooling rate, and smaller heat affected zone thus
achieving better mechanical behaviors after deposition processes.
Holding these advantages, LENS has ability to fabricate near-net-shaped prototypes, high
quality metal parts, and even special tooling for injection mold. Recently, LENS has been
successfully applied in direct fabrication of complex structural components, functionally
graded coatings, high-value added components repair, and special occasions such as aerospace,
defense, biomedical, etc.
PRINCIPLE
Metal particles are injected into a laser beam, where they are melted and deposited onto a
substrate as a miniature weld pool. The trace of the laser beam on the substrate is driven by the
definition ofCAD models until the desired net-shaped densified metal component is produced

Materials

Nickel-based, cobalt-based, and iron-based materials are commonly used powders during
LENS processes. Considering the range of materials availability in LENS and the principle of
joining dissimilar materials using a laser beam,

Inconel 718 (nickel-based), Stellite 1 (cobalt-based), Tribaloy T-800 (cobalt-based) and AISI
4140 (iron-based) are selected as the candidate fabricating materials. The AISI 4140
square plates are utilized as the substrate. The material properties are shown in Table 1.

PROCESS

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Figure 1 shows the typical process layout.

The deposition substrate or “target” is aligned to the desired start point of the deposit. The
powder feeder(s) feed the powder delivery nozzle assembly, which creates a powder stream that
converges at the point of the deposit. Next, the laser provides a focused beam that is delivered to the
point of deposit. The focused laser beam melts the surface of the target and generates a small molten
pool of base material. Powder that is being delivered to this same spot is absorbed into the melt pool,
thus generating a deposit that may range from 0.005 to 0.040 in. thick and 0.040 to 0.160 in. wide.
Motion control for the deposit may be programmed manually or may be generated from CAD files
that are processed by the system’s software. Deposits are typically made in a controlled argon
atmosphere containing less than 10 ppm oxygen. Some cladding work may be performed utilizing a
shielding gas system similar to the gas metal arc welding process

Overview of metal additive manufacturing processes

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Powder Bed Technology

In beam-based powder bed systems (LBM or EBM), a powder layer is first applied on a building
platform. Then a laser or electron beam selectively melts the upper layer of powder. After melting,
the platform is lowered and the cycle is repeated until the part is fully built, embedded in the powder
bed.

The powder bed manufacturing cycle (Courtesy of Fraunhofer)

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Laser Beam Melting (or Selective Laser Melting)

In the laser beam melting process, a powder layer is first applied on a building platform with
a recoater (blade or roller) and a laser beam selectively melts the layer of powder. Then the platform
is lowered by 20 up to 100 μm and a new powder layer is applied. The laser beam melting operation
is repeated. After a few thousand cycles (depending on height of the part), the built part is removed
from the powder bed.

APPLICATION

Complex CoCr Fuel Injection Swirler made by

LaserBeam Melting (Courtesy of EOS GmbH) Hollow Ni 718 turbine blade made by Laser Beam Melting
(Courtesy of SLM Solutions)

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Tooling insert by Laser Beam Melting Ni 718 Combustion chamber made by Laser Beam Melting
(Courtesy of BMW) Courtesy of Concept Laser GmBH

ELECTRON BEAM MELTING

The EBM process is based on a high power electron beam that generates the energy needed
for high melting capacity and high productivity. The electron beam is managed by electromagnetic
coils providing extremely fast and accurate beam control. The EBM process takes place in vacuum
(with a base pressure of 1×10-5 mbar or better) and at high temperature, 7resulting in stress relieved
components. For each layer in the build the electron beam heats the entire powder bed to an optimal
ambient temperature, specific for the material used. As a result, the parts produced with the EBM
process are almost free from residual stresses and have a microstructure free from martensitic
structures.

Source: additive.blog

APPLICATION

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli
 ME6018 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Ti6Al4V acetabular cups with integrated Trabecular Low Pressure Turbine blade in γ-titanium aluminide

Structures™ for improved osseointegration (Courtesy of Arcam) (Courtesy of AvioAero)

Dr.S.Supriya
Govt. College of Engineering, Tirunelveli