Numerical modeling of sintering of two-component metal powders with laser beams

Abstract

Direct laser sintering of a mixture of two metal powders with significantly different melting points is investigated by numerical simulation. The model is based on self-consistent non-linear continuity equations for volume fractions of components and on energy transfer equations for the powder mixture. It includes the movement of the solid particles due to shrinkage because of the density change of the powder mixture and the liquid flow driven by the capillary and gravity forces. The liquid flow is determined by Darcy's law. The effect of surface settlement of the powder is obtained. The width increasing rate of the melting zone depend both on the parameters of the laser radiation (on the power of the beam) and on the physical parameters of the particle's material, and it increases with the increasing of the penetrability or the increasing of the phase-transition heat. The increasing of the laser power under other factors being equal results in the acceleration of the melting front propagation.