Effect of the track length and track number on the evolution of the molten pool characteristics of SLMed Al alloy: Numerical and experimental study

The effect of the track length and track number on the evolution of the thermal variables and molten pool characteristics of selective laser melting alumunum alloy has been studied numerically and experimentally in this paper. It is found that as the track length increases, the maximum temperature, maximum heating rate and maximum cooling rate decrease first and then become stable. Both molten pool width and depth increase first, then keep stable and then increase a little at the end of the track. The molten pool lifetime increases first, then becomes stable, and then decreases at the end of the track. With the increase of the track's number, the maximum temperature decreases first and then becomes stable. While, the molten pool width, depth and lifetime increase first and keep almost constant, the maximum heating rate and cooling rate are nearly same.