Laser powder bed fusion of a nanocrystalline Finemet Fe-based alloy for soft magnetic applications

The aim of this work is to explore the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processability window of the nanocrystalline soft magnetic Finemet alloy. With that purpose, several laser power and scan speed values and a meander scanning strategy were probed to process simple geometry specimens. Good dimensional accuracy was obtained within the entire processing window investigated. Relative densities as high as 89% were achieved for processing conditions including high laser power and low scan speeds. The fraction of amorphous phase, which peaked at 49%, was found to be mostly dependent on the scan speed and only slightly influenced by the laser power. The microstructure of the crystalline domains is formed by ultrafine, equiaxed grains with random orientations. Irrespective of the processing conditions, the LPBF-processed samples exhibit a similar saturation magnetization, lower permeability, and higher coercivity than fully amorphous melt-spun ribbons of the same composition. The coercive field of the additively manufactured specimens is fairly independent of the relative density and exhibits a moderate inverse variation with the amorphous fraction. Consistent with earlier works, this study suggests that the average grain size is an important contributor to coercivity.