Determination of the process parameters for 17-4PH stainless steel—Rosenthal, melt pool, and microstructure properties

Since the field’s founding, understanding metal additive manufacturing (AM) procedures and the composition and characteristics of the produced metallic components has come a long way. We are optimizing the microstructure and reducing defect development achieved by fine-tuning essential process parameters like laser power and scan speed, which are crucial initial steps in improving the quality and dependability of AM components. This research aims to achieve complete dense samples by effectively controlling the energy density input during the printing process, which depends entirely on the chosen printing parameters, balancing between insufficient melting and excessive melting. This study adjusted the laser power, scanning speed, and hatch spacing to create components that were as close to fully dense as possible. Using parameters derived from the Rosenthal calculation, we printed samples using 17-4 precipitation hardening (17-4PH) stainless steel. Subsequently, the printed samples were examined using an optical microscope to detect imperfections and correlate them with the specific conditions applied in each case.