Single scan track analyses on aluminium based powders

Abstract Powder bed additive manufacturing technologies gained much attention in past years not only thanks to design freedom but also because of the peculiar microstructures and mechanical properties that can be obtained thanks to the extremely high cooling rate. However the phenomena that arise during the laser scanning are not yet deeply understood. In this work the effect of the main building parameters and of powder properties on the shape, the microstructure and the properties of Al-based LPBF single scan tracks was evaluated. The experiments were carried out with three different powders in order to understand of the effect of the material thermo-physical properties on the consolidation phenomena.