Microforming of fine metallic rods by the selective laser melting of powder

Machining technologies for the turning, milling, and polishing of fine metallic rods are not adequately efficient for small-quantity tailored productions that utilize a variety of materials, thereby establishing the need for scaling down the facilities and reducing the significantly longer production times. To expand the applicability of additive manufacturing to microforming, an innovative manufacturing process based on selective laser melting (SLM) is proposed in this study for producing submillimeter metallic rods. A rod-like product is first fabricated by forming a semicircular groove on a copper base plate by SLM; subsequently, laser rounding is performed by irradiating the product obtained from SLM after a 180-degree turn to enhance the roundness and smoothness. The product is then shaped to be circular and sized by pulling the rod through a sizing die. The experimental implementation successfully demonstrates that the method can rapidly fabricate fine rods using a simple operation. The feasibility of the proposed process has been confirmed to enable high dimensional accuracy, proper surface smoothness, low material usage, and favorable mechanical properties of the manufactured rods, which renders it a viable alternative to the machining process.