Optimization of process parameters effects on mechanical properties of selective laser melted iron samples

Abstract

Selective laser melting is an additive manufacturing technology whereby parts are built through selective melt of a powder bed by a laser beam. This technology is used to produce net shape parts in 3D printers. In this study, the effect of selective laser melting parameters on the mechanical properties (ultimate tensile strength and hardness) of iron has been experimentally extracted, and the optimum levels of the parameters have been determined for optimum mechanical properties using signal‐to‐noise analysis. The selected parameters include the laser power, the laser scanning speed, and the laser hatch distance, and the design of experiments was done by the Taguchi method. The main effects of factors and interactions were considered in this paper. The results show that the optimum parameter levels for the ultimate tensile strength include the laser power of 200 W, the laser scanning speed of 600 mm/s, and the hatch distance of 70 μm. The optimal parameters for hardness are similar to the maximum tensile strength, except that the optimum hatch distance is 60 μm.