Studying Gas-Phase Flows in the Laser Exposure Zone during Selective Laser Melting

The processes occurring during selective laser melting were studied with a high-speed CCD camera. In order to record all optical in-homogeneities, the camera was integrated into optical arrangement, that realized the Schlieren-method. Within the experiment three parameters were estimated, such as powder particles opening angle, their velocity and the outflow velocity of vapor-gas jet. The influence of laser setup parameters is given. It is shown that particle size and material composition, together with laser power, affect greatly on the opening angle and velocity of powder particles emission, respectively.