Fundamental analysis of the influence of powder characteristics in Selective Laser Melting of molybdenum based on a multi-physical simulation model

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) offers great potential for the processing of molybdenum as it allows the production of parts that can hardly be fabricated in a classical way. The workpiece is built up by melting up powder layer by layer. Besides the applied laser parameters, the characteristics of the powder and the deposited powder layer have a crucial influence on the dynamics of the process and the final processing result. In order to get a fundamental understanding of these influences, numerical simulations are a versatile tool as they allow a detailed look on isolated parameters. In this contribution a coupled thermo-fluid dynamical simulation model for SLM is applied for a fundamental analysis of the influence of powder characteristics in SLM of molybdenum. The results allow a deeper insight into the influences of powder particle size and powder particle arrangement on the SLM process and the formation of the molten track.