Relating Processing of Selective Laser Melted Structures to their Material and Modal Properties

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) creates metal parts by fusing powder layer-by-layer. It provides significant design flexibility and the possibility of low-volume production. The engineering properties of the printed metal are a function of the local thermal history. This creates challenges for validating Additively Manufactured (AM) parts. This paper correlates the engineering properties (density, modulus, yield strength and ultimate strength) for tensile test specimens created with different process parameters with the resonant frequencies determined using modal testing. The paper shows that yield and ultimate strengths for these specimens can be determined using modal analysis