Support design of overhanging structure for laser powder bed fusion

Warpage deformation inevitably occurs when laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is applied on an overhanging structure. An effective support added to the system can mitigate warpage and improve the accuracy of formed parts. Four types of support structures are designed, and sheet tensile specimens and overhanging structures with different support structures are fabricated in this study. The tensile failure behavior and warpage suppression ability of different support structures are investigated, with the relation of the support influence to the design of support structure analyzed. The results show that the support with reinforcement can effectively restrain warpage deformation of the overhanging structure. During the process of tension, the main failure area of the support structure is located on the top of the support structure, close to the overhanging solid body. Increasing the change ratio of the support cross-sectional area is helpful to improve the constraint ability of the support. This design provides a new method for accurate forming of overhanging structures via LPBF and evaluating the restrain ability of support structures. & COPY; 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).