Free-form laser consolidation for producing metallurgically sound and functional components

Functional metallic components can be built layer by layer from a computer-aided design model, by using an optical fiber coupled Nd:YAG laser beam along with the simultaneous delivery of desired metal/alloy powders through a nozzle into the molten pool. Building of shapes using various alloys, including 316 L stainless steel, Ni-base IN-625 superalloy, and M4 tool steel, have been investigated. The components built using the free-form laser consolidation are metallurgically sound, free of cracks and porosity. Surface finish on the order of 1–2 μm (Ra) can be obtained on the consolidated samples. The microstructure of the laser-consolidated samples is similar to the rapidly solidified materials. Under certain conditions, directionally solidified microstructure can also be obtained. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that laser-consolidated material maintains the same phase structure as the original powder. The tensile properties of the laser-consolidated IN-625 alloy and 316 L stainless steel are comparable to the respective wrought materials. The microhardness of the consolidated M4 tool steel reaches to approximately Hv 1000. The polarization testing results indicate that laser-consolidated IN-625 alloy and 316 L stainless steel show a similar corrosion resistance as the respective wrought material in 3.5% NaCl solution.