Surface quality improvement by parameters analysis, optimization and heat treatment of AlSi10Mg parts manufactured by SLM additive manufacturing

The quality and reliability of selective laser melting (SLM) built components is very important. Surface quality is key quality characteristic, and it is an emergent topic for SLM products. In this paper, the influence of processing parameters such as laser power, scanning speed, overlap rate, and hatch distance of an SLM system during the fabrication of AlSi10Mg alloy parts are investigated for surface quality. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze surface quality and optimize the process parameters for quality improvement of AlSi10Mg components developed by SLM process. The effect of laser power, scanning speed, overlap rate, and hatch distance on the front face and side face surface roughness examined in as-built (AB), solution heat treatment (SHT), and artificial aging (AA). The effect of laser power on surface quality explored empirically, and ANOVA is applied to determine the best level of laser power for minimum surface roughness, standard deviation, and fluctuations. The regression analysis is performed to develop a mathematical model and used it for the optimization of processing parameters; scan speed, overlap rate, and hatch distance for achieving minimum surface roughness. Conclusively, the process parameters 0.32 kW laser power, 0.60 m/s scan speed, 35% overlap rate and 88.7 μm hatch distance determined as optimized parameters for best surface quality in as-built condition. Furthermore, the results revealed that the average surface roughness decreased by 17% after solution heat treatment.