3d printer for selective laser melting of metallic materials

• Subject Area: Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558546412

The flexible device for selective laser melting (also: laser powder bed fusion, PBF-LB/M) allows for addressing both fundamental process engineering and material science questions in the field of laser beam, powder bed-based additive manufacturing of metallic components. On the one hand, the system is used for questions in the field of production technology and rapid prototyping. These include the understanding of laser scanning strategies, development of residual stresses, reproducibility, process strategies with regard to heat balance and the implementation of new geometric designs, e.g. surface-/flow-optimized turbine blades with innovative internal cooling channels. On the other hand, material science questions are addressed both separately and in conjunction with production technology and component design. This area includes the additive processing of new alloys that were previously specially designed using computer-aided methods and already established, commercially available powder materials. The focus is on the fundamental understanding of the phase transformations that take place during additive manufacturing (in particular liquid-solid during solidification and solid-solid during cooling and subsequent heat treatment). The understanding gained is intended to clarify open mechanisms (e.g. in the area of crack formation in difficult and non-weldable alloys) and to use them for material design. The flexible system concept (including reduced build chamber, substrate plate heating, high-performance laser) enables a wide variety of metallic materials and material composites to be processed and examined.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Anlage zum selektiven Laserschmelzen metallischer Werkstoffe
• Instrumentation Group: 5740 Laser in der Fertigung
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Berlin
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Haase