Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential for improving the sustainability of metal processing through decreased energy and materials usage compared to casting and forging. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of high-temperature alloys such as nickel alloy 718 is one of the key modalities supporting this effort. One of the major drawbacks to LPBF is its slow build speed on the order of 5–10 cubic centimeters per hour print speed. This experimental study investigates how to increase the productivity of the LPBF process by switching from a traditional Gaussian laser shape to a ring laser shape using a nLight multi-modal laser. The objective is to increase productivity, reducing energy consumption and time, without sacrificing mechanical properties by switching to the ring laser thereby improving the sustainability of LPBF. Results include measuring the energy consumption of an Open Additive LPBF system during 718 printing and comparing the microstructure and mechanical properties of the two different lasers.

与铸造和锻造相比，增材制造 (AM) 具有通过减少能源和材料使用来提高金属加工可持续性的潜力。镍合金 718 等高温合金的激光粉末床熔合 (LPBF) 是支持这一努力的关键方式之一。 LPBF 的主要缺点之一是其构建速度较慢，打印速度为每小时 5-10 立方厘米。本实验研究如何通过使用 nLight 多模态激光器将传统高斯激光器形状切换为环形激光器形状来提高 LPBF 工艺的生产率。目标是通过改用环形激光器来提高生产率、减少能耗和时间，同时不牺牲机械性能，从而提高 LPBF 的可持续性。结果包括测量 Open Additive LPBF 系统在 718 打印过程中的能耗，并比较两种不同激光器的微观结构和机械性能。