Simultaneously Eliminate Defects and Modify Surface for 3D Printed Components Using Femtosecond Laser

Abstract

In this work, the femtosecond laser was used to process the surface of the 3D printed components. After femtosecond laser scanning, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized to observe the surface morphology of the samples. In addition, the laser confocal microscope (LCM) was adopted to measure the surface roughness, and the contact angle measuring instrument was employed to characterize the surface wettability. By adjusting two laser process parameters (i.e., the number of scan and scan pitch), the surface defects had been successfully eliminated and surface modification for certain application had been achieved. After laser processing, the surface roughness increases to a certain extent due to the generation of surface micro/nanostructures. Wettability experiments showed that compared with the superhydrophilicity of the original surface, the surface contact angle after laser processing increased to a certain extent, and the surface wettability had been changed. In summary, the feasibility of femtosecond laser processing for the surface of 3D printed specimens was preliminarily verified. In the future efforts, multi-parameter experiments and numerical simulation will be further carried out to achieve better post-processing effects for the 3D printed component surfaces.