Makoana, Nkutwane WYadroitsava, IMöller, HYadroitsev, I2018-07-172018-07-172018Makoana, N.W. et al. 2018. Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling. Metals, vol. 8(7): doi.org/10.3390/met80704752075-4701doi.org/10.3390/met8070475http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/8/7/475http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10308This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).Global industrial adoption of laser-based powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology is still limited by the production speed, the size of the build envelope, and therefore the maximum part size that can be produced. The cost of LPBF can be driven down further by improving the build rates without compromising structural integrity. A common approach is that the build rate can be improved by increasing the laser power and beam diameter to instantly melt a large area of powder, thus reducing the scanning time for each layer. The aim of this study was to investigate the aspects of upscaling LPBF processing parameters on the characteristic formation of stable single tracks, which are the primary building blocks for this technology. Two LPBF systems operating independently, using different parameter regimes, were used to produce the single tracks on a solid substrate deposited with a thin powder layer. The results obtained indicate that higher laser power and spot size can be used to produce stable tracks while the linear energy input is increased. It was also shown statistically that the geometrical characteristics of single tracks are mainly affected by the laser power and scanning speed during the scanning of a thin powder layer.enLaser based powder bed fusionMetal powderMolten poolProcess mappingStainless steelArticleMakoana, N. W., Yadroitsava, I., Möller, H., & Yadroitsev, I. (2018). Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10308Makoana, Nkutwane W, I Yadroitsava, H Möller, and I Yadroitsev "Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling." (2018) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10308Makoana NW, Yadroitsava I, Möller H, Yadroitsev I. Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling. 2018; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10308.TY - Article AU - Makoana, Nkutwane W AU - Yadroitsava, I AU - Möller, H AU - Yadroitsev, I AB - Global industrial adoption of laser-based powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology is still limited by the production speed, the size of the build envelope, and therefore the maximum part size that can be produced. The cost of LPBF can be driven down further by improving the build rates without compromising structural integrity. A common approach is that the build rate can be improved by increasing the laser power and beam diameter to instantly melt a large area of powder, thus reducing the scanning time for each layer. The aim of this study was to investigate the aspects of upscaling LPBF processing parameters on the characteristic formation of stable single tracks, which are the primary building blocks for this technology. Two LPBF systems operating independently, using different parameter regimes, were used to produce the single tracks on a solid substrate deposited with a thin powder layer. The results obtained indicate that higher laser power and spot size can be used to produce stable tracks while the linear energy input is increased. It was also shown statistically that the geometrical characteristics of single tracks are mainly affected by the laser power and scanning speed during the scanning of a thin powder layer. DA - 2018 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Laser based powder bed fusion KW - Metal powder KW - Molten pool KW - Process mapping KW - Stainless steel LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2018 SM - 2075-4701 T1 - Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling TI - Characterization of 17-4PH single tracks produced at different parametric conditions towards increased productivity of LPBF systems—the effect of laser power and spot size upscaling UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10308 ER -