About this Abstract |
Meeting |
MS&T22: Materials Science & Technology
|
Symposium
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Additive Manufacturing: Equipment, Instrumentation and In-Situ Process Monitoring
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Presentation Title |
Exploring Synchronized Dual Laser Scan Strategies for Increased Productivity of Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
Author(s) |
Lars Vanmunster, Tom Kerkhofs, Bey Vrancken |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Lars Vanmunster |
Abstract Scope |
While Laser Powder Bed Fusion has seen significant academic interest in the past decades, the industrial applicability is still limited to high-tech industries due to the high production time and corresponding costs of the process. To reduce the build times, multi-laser systems are quickly becoming the go-to industrial solution. However, the production speed increase is less-than-linearly dependent on the number of lasers, due to non-scaling effects such as the recoating time or non-ideal part partitioning between the lasers. We will discuss how a dual laser system can create an elliptical-like spot, reducing the energy waisted on heating powder below the melt point. First, simulations will show this strategy could increase the theoretical build speed up to 2.5 times relative to a single laser system. Then, we will describe the syncronisation challenges and explain how the interaction between lasers operating in close proximity can be leveraged. |