Influence of laser parameters on segregation of Nb during selective laser melting of Inconel 718

A transient three-dimensional powder-scale model was established for understanding the flow field and mass transfer within the molten pool during the selective laser melting (SLM) of Inconel 718 alloy by considering some important physical phenomena, such as, a transition from powder to solid, nonlinearities produced by temperature-dependent materials’ properties, and fluid flow in the calculation. The influence of laser power or scanning speed on the flow field and cooling rate was discussed in detail. The simulation results reveal that the motion of molten pool and higher cooling rate promote the mass transfer and benefit the solute distribution by increasing laser power. However, with increasing the scanning speed, the melt flow speed and cooling rate are elevated, resulting in an agglomeration of the solute elements, which is ascribed to the shorter dwelling time of liquid. Therefore, the segregation of Nb can be effectively suppressed by increasing laser power or decreasing scanning speed, which can decrease the dwelling time of liquid.