Closing the science gap in 3D metal printing

TitleClosing the science gap in 3D metal printing
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsPolonsky AT, Pollock TM
JournalScience
Volume368
Pagination583–584
Abstract

Additive manufacturing [three-dimensional (3D) printing] methodologies for high–melting point metallic materials are being used in the advanced aerospace and biomedical sectors to fabricate high-value and geometrically complex parts in moderate production volumes. One barrier to more widespread applications is the gaps in the understanding of the processes that occur during the layer-by-layer buildup by beam heating and melting of powder or wire layers. For example, the absorption of energy in powder layers that are only a few particles thick is poorly understood. On page 660 of this issue, Khairallah et al. (1) used in situ x-ray synchrotron observations of powder dynamics coupled to thermal and hydrodynamic flow modeling to study energy absorption at the scale of powder particles. The presence of the powder, relative to a flat plate without powder, improves absorptivity at low laser power, but as power approaches 200 W, the details of the powder become far less important.

DOI10.1126/science.abb4938