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Laser Assisted Processes and Thermal Treatments of Materials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Manufacturing Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 8362

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Elisa Padovano

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Guest Editor

Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
Interests: composite materials; additive manufacturing; processing–structure–property relationship

Prof. Dr. Claudio Francesco Badini

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Guest Editor

Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: material design; composite materials; additive manufacturing; structural and functional materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Laser is a coherent beam of electromagnetic radiation which can spatially propagate with negligible divergence and lowest power loss over a long distance; moreover, it can be focused on small spots, providing improved precision on an irradiated area. When a laser beam irradiates the surface of a material, the latter can efficiently absorb the provided thermal energy. This interaction can induce photochemical or photothermal reactions, which generate a confined temperature increase within a desired area. This mechanism is used in many material processing technologies, such as stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), and laser-engineered net shaping (LENS).

However, the use of this localized heat input can cause the formation of residual stresses in the processed parts, which limits their practical use, introducing deformation or micro-cracks, and potentially reducing their load resistance. Therefore, components need heat treatments aimed at releasing the residual stresses coming from the production process.

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish original research data, review articles, communications that focus on the use of laser-assisted technologies for processing advanced materials or to induce their modifications in term of properties and functions. Then, of particular interest is the investigation of specifically designed thermal treatments of starting powders or final components.

Dr. Elisa Padovano
Prof. Dr. Claudio Francesco Badini
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Laser manufacturing of metal/polymer/ceramic materials
Laser functionalization process
Laser parameters
Laser–matter interaction
Processing–structure–property relationship
Thermal treatments

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 4239 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short Heat Treatments for the F357 Aluminum Alloy Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

by Matteo Vanzetti, Enrico Virgillito, Alberta Aversa, Diego Manfredi, Federica Bondioli, Mariangela Lombardi and Paolo Fino

Materials 2021, 14(20), 6157; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14206157 - 17 Oct 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1904

Abstract

Conventionally processed precipitation hardening aluminum alloys are generally treated with T6 heat treatments which are time-consuming and generally optimized for conventionally processed microstructures. Alternatively, parts produced by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) are characterized by unique microstructures made of very fine and metastable phases. These peculiar features require specifically optimized heat treatments. This work evaluates the effects of a short T6 heat treatment on L-PBF AlSi7Mg samples. The samples underwent a solution step of 15 min at 540 °C followed by water quenching and subsequently by an artificial aging at 170 °C for 2–8 h. The heat treated samples were characterized from a microstructural and mechanical point of view and compared with both as-built and direct aging (DA) treated samples. The results show that a 15 min solution treatment at 540 °C allows the dissolution of the very fine phases obtained during the L-PBF process; the subsequent heat treatment at 170 °C for 6 h makes it possible to obtain slightly lower tensile properties compared to those of the standard T6. With respect to the DA samples, higher elongation was achieved. These results show that this heat treatment can be of great benefit for the industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Assisted Processes and Thermal Treatments of Materials)

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16 pages, 4854 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Thermo-Mechanical Coupling Effect in Selective Laser Melting of Aluminum Alloy Powder

by Xianyin Duan, Xinyue Chen, Kunpeng Zhu, Tao Long, Shiyang Huang and Fuh Y H Jerry

Materials 2021, 14(7), 1673; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14071673 - 29 Mar 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1773

Abstract

In the selective laser melting process, metal powder melted by the laser heat source generates large instantaneous energy, resulting in transient high temperature and complex stress distribution. Different temperature gradients and anisotropy finally determine the microstructure after melting and affect the build quality and mechanical properties as a result. It is important to monitor and investigate the temperature and stress distribution evolution. Due to the difficulties in online monitoring, finite element methods (FEM) are used to simulate and predict the building process in real time. In this paper, a thermo-mechanical coupled FEM model is developed to predict the thermal behaviors of the melt pool by using Gaussian moving heat source. The model could simulate the shapes of the melt pool, distributions of temperature and stress under different process parameters through FEM. The influences of scanning speed, laser power, and spot diameter on the distribution of the melt pool temperature and stress are investigated in the SLM process of Al6063, which is widely applied in aerospace, transportation, construction and other fields due to its good corrosion resistance, sufficient strength and excellent process performance. Based on transient analysis, the relationships are identified among these process parameters and the melt pool morphology, distribution of temperature and thermal stress. It is shown that the maximum temperature at the center point of the scanning tracks will gradually increase with the increment of laser power under the effect of thermal accumulation and heat conduction, as the preceded scanning will preheat the subsequent scanning tracks. It is recommended that the parameters with optimized laser power (P = 175–200 W), scanning speed (v = 200–300 mm/s) and spot diameter (D = 0.1–0.15 mm) of aluminum alloy powder can produce a high building quality of the SLM parts under the pre-set conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Assisted Processes and Thermal Treatments of Materials)

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Review

Jump to: Research

37 pages, 4202 KiB

Open AccessReview

Process Phenomena and Material Properties in Selective Laser Sintering of Polymers: A Review

by Federico Lupone, Elisa Padovano, Francesco Casamento and Claudio Badini

Materials 2022, 15(1), 183; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15010183 - 27 Dec 2021

Cited by 59 | Viewed by 5690

Abstract

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a powder bed fusion technology that uses a laser source to melt selected regions of a polymer powder bed based on 3D model data. Components with complex geometry are then obtained using a layer-by-layer strategy. This additive manufacturing technology is a very complex process in which various multiphysical phenomena and different mechanisms occur and greatly influence both the quality and performance of printed parts. This review describes the physical phenomena involved in the SLS process such as powder spreading, the interaction between laser beam and powder bed, polymer melting, coalescence of fused powder and its densification, and polymer crystallization. Moreover, the main characterization approaches that can be useful to investigate the starting material properties are reported and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Assisted Processes and Thermal Treatments of Materials)

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