Abstract Scope |
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) Additive manufacturing (AM) of heat exchangers (HEX), compared to traditional manufacturing methods, offers greater design freedom and potential for light-weighting, and topology optimization. AM thus enables considerable increase in performance. However, process limitations and build defects (e.g., minimum feature size limits and unwanted porosity) are serious obstacles facing the advancement of AM of HEX devices. In this study, single-scan and double-scan fins were fabricated to investigate the effects of rescanning strategy, inclination angle, laser power, and laser scan speed on the thickness, porosity, and surface roughness of thin fins fabricated in the aluminum alloy AlSi10Mg. A processing map is developed, allowing for the prediction and control of fin thickness and porosity, given a fin inclination angle. An anticipated future outcome of this work is the development of a process framework for LPBFAM of heat exchangers. |