Laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing is an emerging 3D printing technique for the fabrication of advanced metal components. Widespread adoption of it and similar additive technologies is hampered by poor understanding of laser-metal interactions under such extreme thermal regimes. Here, we elucidate the mechanism of pore formation and liquid-solid interface dynamics during typical laser powder bed fusion conditions using in situ X-ray imaging and multi-physics simulations. Pores are revealed to form during changes in laser scan velocity due to the rapid formation then collapse of deep keyhole depressions in the surface which traps inert shielding gas in the solidifying metal. We develop a universal mitigation strategy which eliminates this pore formation process and improves the geometric quality of melt tracks. Our results provide insight into the physics of laser-metal interaction and demonstrate the potential for science-based approaches to improve confidence in components produced by laser powder bed fusion.

In situ X-ray-based measurements of the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process produce unique data for model validation and improved process understanding. Synchrotron X-ray imaging and diffraction provide high resolution, bulk sensitive information with sufficient sampling rates to probe melt pool dynamics as well as phase and microstructure evolution. Here, we describe a laboratory-scale LPBF test bed designed to accommodate diffraction and imaging experiments at a synchrotron X-ray source during LPBF operation. We also present experimental results using Ti-6Al-4V, a widely used aerospace alloy, as a model system. Both imaging and diffraction experiments were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. Melt pool dynamics were imaged at frame rates up to 4 kHz with a ∼1.1 μm effective pixel size and revealed the formation of keyhole pores along the melt track due to vapor recoil forces. Diffraction experiments at sampling rates of 1 kHz captured phase evolution and lattice contraction during the rapid cooling present in LPBF within a ∼50 × 100 μm area. We also discuss the utility of these measurements for model validation and process improvement.

Laser powder bed fusion (LpBf) is a method of additive manufacturing characterized by the rapid scanning of a high powered laser over a thin bed of metallic powder to create a single layer, which may then be built upon to form larger structures. Much of the melting, resolidification, and subsequent cooling take place at much higher rates and with much higher thermal gradients than in traditional metallurgical processes, with much of this occurring below the surface. We have used in situ high speed X-ray diffraction to extract subsurface cooling rates following resolidification from the melt and above the β-transus in titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. We observe an inverse relationship with laser power and bulk cooling rates. the measured cooling rates are seen to correlate to the level of residual strain borne by the minority β-ti phase with increased strain at slower cooling rates. the α-ti phase shows a lattice contraction which is invariant with cooling rate. We also observe a broadening of the diffraction peaks which is greater for the β-ti phase at slower cooling rates and a change in the relative phase fraction following LpBf. these results provide a direct measure of the subsurface thermal history and demonstrate its importance to the ultimate quality of additively manufactured materials. In LPBF, a common metal additive manufacturing (AM) process, a thin layer of precursor powder is selectively melted by tracing a high power laser to create a single, solid layer, followed by the spread of the next layer of powder for melting, and so on to build a part layer-by-layer 1-14. This approach offers a number of distinct advantages over conventional metal fabrication, including rapid prototyping, efficient material utilization, fabrication of complex geometries incompatible with machining or molding techniques, and applicability to materials which may exhibit machining difficulties, such as titanium 4,8-12,14. However, unlike conventional manufacturing techniques, the LPBF process is characterized by rapid melting and resolidification of small volumes of material that results in large thermal gradients both temporally and spatially, and consequently cooling rates that can be orders of magnitude higher than in conventional casting 10,15,16. Such large localized heating and cooling rates largely control the resulting microstructure, grain size and orientation, can lead to large residual stresses in some materials, and may also result in compositional segregation or formation of non-equilibrium trapped phases 4,17-20. Therefore quantifying these cooling rates and correlating them to the characteristics of the final build is an important step towards informing theoretical and process models that can predict and potentially control such stresses and inhomogeneities that are generally undesirable, especially in critical components. For this study, we focused on Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-64, 90%Ti, 6% Al, 4%V-by weight) as our material system. The high strength, light weight, and excellent corrosion resistance inherent to titanium and its ...

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) metal additive manufacturing provides distinct advantages for aerospace and biomedical applications. However, widespread industrial adoption is limited by a lack of confidence in part properties driven by an incomplete understanding of how unique process parameters relate to defect formation and ultimately mechanical properties. To address that gap, high‐speed X‐ray imaging is used to probe subsurface melt pool dynamics and void‐formation mechanisms inaccessible to other monitoring approaches. This technique directly observes the depth and dynamic behavior of the vapor depression, also known as the keyhole depression, which is formed by recoil pressure from laser‐driven metal vaporization. Also, vapor bubble formation and motion due to melt pool currents is observed, including instances of bubbles splitting before solidification into clusters of smaller voids while the material rapidly cools. Other phenomena include bubbles being formed from and then recaptured by the vapor depression, leaving no voids in the final part. Such events complicate attempts to identify defect formation using surface‐sensitive process‐monitoring tools. Finally, once the void defects form, they cannot be repaired by simple laser scans, without introducing new defects, thus emphasizing the importance of understanding processing parameters to develop robust defect‐mitigation strategies based on experimentally validated models.

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