Nanostructural self-organization under selective laser sintering of exothermic powder mixtures

Abstract Topology of the surface substructure induced by the synthesis of intermetallic compounds under selective laser sintering is studied by scanning electron microscopy. The data is then analysed by image processing software for identification and discussion of common features and peculiarities of the structure-formation process. A dependence between the fractal dimension D of low-dimensional nanostructures and laser energy input A is found. It is shown that particularities of the structural-phase transformations under intermetallic synthesis in the Ni–Al, Ti–Al, Fe–Ti and Ni–Ti systems determine the appearance of ordered nanosubstructures as honeycomb-like, dendritic or mosaic. The change of the fractal dimension of low-dimensional structures clearly correlates with the change of roughness, while the increase of the laser energy input influences the fractal dimension D in different ways. Sharp variations of the D orientation indicate a change of the phase-formation mechanism.