Laser direct forming of metal components: Technical characterizations

Laser direct forming experiments were carried out systematically with 316L stainless steel and nickel-base alloy to investigate the technical characterizations deeply and some metal components were fabricated. It is found that, the height of single cladding layer, which was affected by almost all the processing parameters and was quite hard to be precisely controlled, was very important to laser direct forming for not only the accuracy of vertical direction but also the fabrication stability. The variation of the width of single clad, which was mainly affected by laser power, spot diameter and scanning velocity, was similar to that in laser surface melting. The surface quality was another important characterization for laser direct forming and was remarkably affected by oxidation and power attachment. In order to improve the surface quality, the flow flux of shielding gas should not less than 10l/min.