Laser Polishing of Laser Powder Bed Fusion AlSi10Mg Parts—Influence of Initial Surface Roughness on Achievable Surface Quality
Open Access
- 1 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in Materials Sciences and Applications
- Vol. 12 (01), 15-41
- https://doi.org/10.4236/msa.2021.121002
Abstract
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is an Additive Manufacturing technique, which allows production of highly complex solid metal parts with good mechanical properties, compared to conventionally manufactured parts. Nevertheless, the layer-by-layer fabrication process also offers several disadvantages, including a relatively high surface roughness depending on the shape of the component, its position and orientation during the fabrication process. This paper deals with investigations on the surface roughness reduction capability, and residual surface structures by laser polishing of LPBF AlSi10Mg parts under varying initial surface roughness in order to investigate the influence of the surface behavior and initial surface roughness to the achievable surface quality by laser polishing. Hereto test specimens with varying fabrication orientations regarding to the built platform are printed and further polished. Thereby the initial arithmetic roughness varies between 19.2 μm and 8.0 μm. It could be shown that the achievable surface roughness by laser polishing with continuous and pulsed laser radiation is increasing with rising initial roughness, but the relative roughness reduction is almost constant in the range of 95% - 97.5%. The analyzation of the residual roughness structures shows, that the main roughness differences is found in the middle and long structure wavelength regime, which are directly depending on the initial surface structures of 3D printing.Keywords
This publication has 34 references indexed in Scilit:
- Vibration-assisted dry polishing of fused silica using a fixed-abrasive polisherInternational Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, 2014
- Taguchi Optimization of the Surface Finish Obtained by Laser Ablation on Selective Laser Molten Steel PartsProcedia CIRP, 2013
- Influence of process parameters on surface roughness of aluminum parts produced by DMLSThe International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2012
- Mechanical Properties of AlSi10Mg Produced by Selective Laser MeltingPhysics Procedia, 2012
- Microstructural investigation of Selective Laser Melting 316L stainless steel parts exposed to laser re-meltingProcedia Engineering, 2011
- The investigation of the influence of laser re‐melting on density, surface quality and microstructure of selective laser melting partsRapid Prototyping Journal, 2011
- Surface finish improvement of LMD samples using laser polishingVirtual and Physical Prototyping, 2010
- Laser polishing parameter optimisation on selective laser sintered partsInternational Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2010
- Laser polishing of parts built up by selective laser sinteringInternational Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, 2007
- Laser shock processing of materials, physical processes involved and examples of applicationsJournal of Laser Applications, 1996