Effect of Process Parameters on the Deformation of Selective Laser Melting

Numerical simulations on 3161, stainless steel is conducted using selective laser melting (SLM) technology, and the effects of the placement angle of the printed parts in the horizontal plane and the inclination angle in the vertical plane on the thermal behavior of the SLM process arc investigated. By adopting the short straight-line scanning strategy, the research results show that for a bar with dimensions of 50 mm X 5 mm X 10 mm, when the angle between the longer side of the bar and the scraper is 45 degrees, the deformation generated by thermal stress is the smallest. In the vertical plane, the corresponding deformation generated when the angle between the bar and the vertical direction is 15 degrees is the smallest as well. The deformations on the substrate prior and subsequent to the removal exist a considerable difference, which amounted to approximately 70%.