Characterization of heat transfer process in selective laser melting

This report serves as a documentation of the work and research that the student has accomplished for his final year project on the Characterization of Heat Transfer Process in Selective Laser Melting. The report consists of a literature review on the theory of Additive Manufacturing and its various techniques. Six different machines across varying additive manufacturing concepts are brought together and examined in detail. One of these machines, M2 Cusing from Concept Laser is selected to produce specimens for this study. All specimens are made of AlSi10Mg alloy. Experiments are conducted to investigate certain properties of the specimens and each experimental setup is clearly described. The specimen properties that are investigated in this study includes dimensional and geometrical accuracy, parallelism and flatness, surface roughness, density, porosity, microstructure and precipitate identification. The effects of several post-processing methods such as sandblasting and heat treatment are also investigated. Results are tabulated according to its different properties and are subsequently discussed. Relevant theories of heat transfer are used to explain some of the phenomena observed from the results. Relationships between the quality of certain properties and the machine’s processing parameters are developed. This report also recommends improvements on certain aspects of the experiment as well as suggests specific areas for future studies.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering