Measurement of Laser Absorptivity of Inconel Powders with Additive Manufacturing Machine

The nickel-based superalloy Inconel is considered suitable for near-net-shape manufacturing using additive techniques, primarily due to its machining difficulties. In laser metal-based powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing, the laser absorptivity of metal powder is one of the parameters that must be known in order to elucidate, optimize, and numerically simulate manufacturing. Therefore, we tried to measure the laser absorptivities of Inconel 718 and Inconel 738LC powders using a commercially available additive manufacturing machine.