Influence of Pulsed Exposure Strategies on Overhang Structures in Powder Bed Fusion of Ti6Al4V Using Laser Beam

Manufacturing structures with low overhang angles without support structures is a major challenge in powder bed fusion of metals using laser beam (PBF-LB/M). In the present work, various test specimens and parameter sets with continuous wave (cw) and pulsed exposure are used to investigate whether a reduction of downskin roughness and overhang angle can be achieved in PBF-LB/M of Ti6Al4V. Starting from cw exposure, the limits of overhang angle and surface roughness at the downskin surface are investigated as a reference. Subsequently, the influence of laser power, scanning speed, and hatch distance with fixed pulse duration (τpulse = 25 µs) and repetition rate (υrep = 20 kHz) on surface roughness Ra is investigated. Pulsed exposure strategies enable the manufacturing of flatter overhang angles (≤20° instead of ≥25°). Furthermore, a correlation between the introduced volume energy density and the downskin roughness can be observed for pulsed exposure. As the reduction in volume energy density causes an increase in porosity, the combination of pulsed downskin exposure and commercial cw infill exposure is investigated. The larger the gap in volume energy density between the infill area and downskin area, the more challenging it is combining the two parameter sets. By combining cw infill and pulsed downskin exposure, flatter overhang structures cannot be manufactured, and a reduction in roughness can be achieved.