Beam shaping analysis for LPBF

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) process that capitalizes on high resolution lasers and layer-by-layer melting to produce components. The drawback to LPBF is processing time (cost) and part anisotropy (properties). Beam shaping is growing in AM as a method to improve material deposition. A “ring” laser shape has growing interest due to a wider spot size and more uniform laser intensity across the spot compared to traditional gaussian laser profiles. This ring profile enables more laser power to be deposited into the material with fewer passes, resulting in an improvement in productivity. However, the impact of this improved deposition rate has not been fully characterized. In this effort, gaussian and ring profiles were evaluated for potential productivity and material enhancements in LPBF.