The aim of this study is to observe the effect of process parameters on residual stresses and relative density of Ti6Al4V samples produced by Selective Laser Melting. The investigated parameters were hatch laser power, hatch laser velocity, border laser velocity, high-temperature preheating and time delay. Residual stresses were evaluated by the bridge curvature method and relative density by the optical method. The effect of the observed process parameters was estimated by the design of experiment and surface response methods. It was found that for an effective residual stress reduction, the high preheating temperature was the most significant parameter. High preheating temperature also increased the relative density but caused changes in the chemical composition of Ti6Al4V unmelted powder. Chemical analysis proved that after one build job with high preheating temperature, oxygen and hydrogen content exceeded the ASTM B348 limits for Grade 5 titanium.

One of the main limitations of laser powder bed fusion technology is the residual stress (RS) introduced into the material by the local heating of the laser beam. RS restricts the processability of some materials and causes shape distortions in the process. Powder bed preheating is a commonly used technique for RS mitigation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of powder bed preheating in the range of room temperature to 400 °C on RS, macrostructure, microstructure, mechanical properties, and properties of the unfused powder of the nickel-based superalloy Inconel 939. The effect of base plate preheating on RS was determined by an indirect method using deformation of the bridge-shaped specimens. Inconel 939 behaved differently than titanium and aluminum alloys when preheated at high temperatures. Preheating at high temperatures resulted in higher RS, higher 0.2% proof stress and ultimate strength, lower elongation at brake, and higher material hardness. The increased RSs and the change in mechanical properties are attributed to changes in the microstructure. Preheating resulted in a larger melt pool, increased the width of columnar grains, and led to evolution of the carbide phase. The most significant microstructure change was in the increase of the size and occurrence of the carbide phase when higher preheating was applied. Furthermore, it was detected that the evolution of the carbide phase strongly corresponds to the build time when high-temperature preheating is applied. Rapid oxidation of the unfused powder was not detected by EDX or XRD analyses.