Selective laser melting (SLM) is one of the additive manufacturing technologies that allows for the production of parts with complex shapes from either powder feedstock or from wires. Aluminum alloys have a great potential for use in SLM especially in automotive and aerospace fields. This paper studies the influence of starting powder characteristics on the processability of SLM fabricated AlSi12 alloy. Three different batches of gas atomized powders from different manufacturers were processed by SLM. The powders differ in particle size and its distribution, morphology and chemical composition. Cubic specimens (10 mm × 10 mm × 10 mm) were fabricated by SLM from the three different powder batches using optimized process parameters. The fabrication conditions were kept similar for the three powder batches. The influence of powder characteristics on porosity and microstructure of the obtained specimens were studied in detail. The SLM samples produced from the three different powder batches do not show any significant variations in their structural aspects. However, the microstructural aspects differ and the amount of porosity in these three specimens vary significantly. It shows that both the flowability of the powder and the apparent density have an influential role on the processability of AlSi12 SLM samples.

In this work the selective laser melting (SLM) of pure copper powder was studied. Because of low laser radiation absorption and high thermal conductivity it is very difficult to organize stable SLM process for copper. Five 10x10x5 mm specimens were fabricated by using different process parameters (scanning speed, point distance, exposure time, scanning strategy). The structure of fabricated specimens was studied by scanning electron microscopy of polished cross-sections. The tensile test was carried out for SLM regime with the lowest porosity.

Due to its unique physical properties (high thermal and electric conductivity) copper is one of the most interesting materials in point of view of additive manufacturing in particular of Selective Laser Melting (SLM). But because of the low laser radiation absorption, low melting point and high thermal conductivity it is difficult to fabricate of copper components without pores. Results of many research have been shown that for successful Selective Laser Melting of copper powder is needed high laser power (more than 300 W) and high laser scanning speed (more than 600 mm/s). However now most SLM machines are equipped with laser plants with output power up to 200 W.In this research, SLM machine with 200 W maximum power CO2 laser has been used. For determination of the influence of SLM process parameters on quality of copper parts cubic specimens have been fabricated. The point distance, exposure time and base plate preheating temperature have been changing. For fabricated specimens porosity by scanning electron microscopy have been determined.

In this research EP648 nickel base heat resistance alloy was used for Selective Laser Melting (SLM). This alloy can be used for producing details at high mechanical and thermal load by SLM for aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding and energy industries. To define the influence of SLM process parameters on EP648 4x4x4 mm cubic specimens were fabricated with different process parameters (scanning speed, laser power, layer thickness). The porosity of fabricated specimens was determined by scanning electron microscopy of polished cross-sections.

A new class of martensitic stainless steel, namely 06Cr15Ni4CuMo, with applications in marine engineering, was processed by using selective laser melting (SLM). A body-centered cubic martensitic microstructure was observed, and the microstructure was compared with wrought 410 martensitic stainless steel. The SLM-processed sample showed a hardness of 465 ± 10 HV_0.5, which was nearly 115 HV_0.5 less than the wrought counterpart. Similarly, the SLM-processed sample showed improved YS and UTS, compared with the wrought sample. However, reduced ductility was observed in the SLM-processed sample due to the presence of high dislocation density in these samples. In addition, 71% volume high-angle grain boundaries were observed, corroborating the high strength of the material. The corrosion behavior was investigated in seawater, and the corrosion resistance was found to be 0.025 mmpy for the SLM-processed 06Cr15Ni4CuMo steel and 0.030 mmpy for wrought 410 alloys, showing better corrosion resistance in the SLM-processed material.

TiAl6V4 alloy is one of the widely used materials in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing technologies. In recent years selective laser melting (SLM) of TiAl6V4 alloy by fiber laser has been well studied, but SLM by CO₂-lasers has not. SLM of TiAl6V4 powder by CO₂-laser was studied in this paper. Nine 10×10×10 mm cubic specimens were fabricated using different SLM process parameters. All of the fabricated specimens have a good dense structure and a good surface finish quality without dimensional distortion. The lowest porosity that was achieved was about 0.5%.