Effect of Process Parameters on Surface Quality in the Production of AlSi10Mg Alloy by SLM Method

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing method that creates final products by depositing objects layer by layer using a digital 3D model. Thanks to AM, products with complex geometries that are almost impossible to manufacture using traditional methods can be produced. Additionally, other limitations of traditional manufacturing, such as high material waste and the need for special tooling, can be eliminated. However, the AM method has some disadvantages, and surface quality is one of them. In order to obtain optimum surface quality, the first thing to do is to determine the optimum production parameters. In this study, a series of experiments were carried out for this purpose and AlSi10Mg alloy was manufactured using different production parameters and levels. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) method, one of the AM methods, was preferred during production. Thus, it was aimed to investigate the effect of some production parameters and levels on average surface roughness. As production parameters, laser power, scanning distance, scanning speed, laser diameter and four levels for each parameter were selected. Experimental design was made according to the Taguchi L16 vertical array to reduce production costs and the number of experiments. The average surface roughness (Ra) of the produced samples was measured and topographic maps of the surfaces were obtained in order to perform a more detailed surface analysis. ANOVA analysis was performed to show the effect of production parameters on surface roughness. From the analysis of results, it was determined that the best surface roughness value was obtained using the combination of 360 W laser power, 0.13 mm scanning distance, 0.10 mm laser diameter, 1200 mm/s scanning speed.

Keywords

• Additive manufacturing
• selective laser melting
• AlSi10Mg
• surface roughness
• Taguchi

AlSi10Mg Alaşımının SLM Yöntemiyle Üretilmesinde Proses Parametrelerinin Yüzey Kalitesi Üzerindeki Etkisi

Öz

Eklemeli imalat (Eİ) yöntemi, dijital bir 3D model kullanılarak nesnelerin katman katman biriktirilmesiyle nihai ürünleri ortaya çıkaran bir üretim yöntemidir. Eİ sayesinde geleneksel yöntemle üretilmesi neredeyse imkansız olan karmaşık geometrili ürünler üretilebilir. Dahası, yüksek malzeme israfı ve özel takımlara duyulan ihtiyaç gibi geleneksel üretimin diğer sınırlamaları da elimine edilebilir. Bununla beraber, Eİ yönteminin bazı dezavantajları vardır ve yüzey kalitesi bu dezavantajlardan biridir. Optimum yüzey kalitesinin elde edilmesi için ilk yapılması gereken de optimum üretim parametrelerinin belirlenmesidir. Bu çalışmada, bu amaca yönelik olarak bir dizi deney yapılmıştır ve farklı üretim parametreleri ve seviyeleri kullanılarak AlSi10Mg alaşımı üretilmiştir. Üretim esnasında Eİ yöntemlerinden birisi olan Seçici Lazer Ergitme (SLM) yöntemi tercih edilmiştir. Böylece bazı üretim parametreleri ve seviyelerinin ortalama yüzey pürüzlülüğü üzerindeki etkisinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Üretim parametresi olarak lazer gücü, tarama mesafesi, tarama hızı, lazer çapı ve her bir parametreye ait dört seviye seçilmiştir. Üretim maliyetlerini ve deney sayısını azaltmak için Taguchi L16 dikey dizinine göre deney tasarımı yapılmıştır. Üretilen numunelere ait ortalama yüzey pürüzlülüğü (Ra) ölçülmüş ve daha detaylı bir yüzey analizi yapabilmek için yüzeylerin topoğrafya haritaları elde edilmiştir. Üretim parametrelerinin yüzey pürüzlülüğü üzerindeki etkisini göstermek için ANOVA analizi yapılmıştır. Deney sonuçlarının analiziyle birlikte, en iyi yüzey pürüzlülüğü değeri 360 W lazer gücü, 0.13 mm tarama mesafesi, 0.10 mm lazer çapı, 1200 mm/s tarama hızı kombinasyonu kullanılarak elde edildiği tespit edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• eklemeli imalat
• seçici lazer ergitme
• AlSi10Mg
• yüzey pürüzlülüğü
• Taguchi

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