Product Code: ICAL09_M803

Investigations on the Macrostructure and Thermal Process in Laser Vaporizing and Sintering Fabrication
Authors:
Pengfei Lv, National Center of Laser Technology, Beijing University of Technology; Beijing Peoples Republic of China
Jimin Chen, National Center of Laser Technology, Beijing University of Technology; Beijing Peoples Republic of China
Furong Liu, National Center of Laser Technology, Beijing University of Technology; Beijing Peoples Republic of China
Presented at ICALEO 2009

The removing and adding materials using laser beam have been both applied widely in manufacture of micro parts. But less attention has been focused on the fabricating technology combining removing and adding materials. Induced by the irradiation of laser beam, marginal metal powders are sintered together into thin walls along laser traces with central metal particles vaporized and sputtered. The investigation reveals great potential advantages of this technology to fabricate micro parts in the future. In the paper, the variation of the microstructure of vaporizing and melting components in this process is studied quantitatively. The profile of sintering walls and vaporizing vales were measured by an optical microscope and a profile meter, while the speed of vaporizing and spattering stream was detected by high speed schlieren photography. The characteristics of micro melting and vaporizing induced by laser beam are further discussed and the mechanism of variational microstructure of metal powders is explored. It is observed that the pressure generated by the vapor and spattering particles is a critical factor influencing the quality of sintering thin walls.