Stability of a Melt Pool during 3D-Printing of an Unsupported Steel Component and Its Influence on Roughness.

The following work presents the results of an investigation of the cause-effect relationship between the stability of a melt pool and the roughness of an inclined, unsupported steel surface that was 3D-printed using the laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L/M) process. In order to observe the balling effect and decrease in surface quality, the samples were printed with no supporting structures placed on the downskin. The stability of the melt pool was investigated as a function of both the inclination angle and along the length of the melt pool.