Advanced dynamic beam shaping for powder sheet additive manufacturing

Powder sheet Additive Manufacturing was recently introduced and promises reduced risks regarding safety and health aspects and increased material usage compared to other metal Additive Manufacturing methods. The Metal Additive Manufacturing using Powder Sheets (MAPS) process employs powder sheets containing metal powder connected by a polymeric binder. However, the polymer binder contains Carbon, which can alter the process behavior, microstructure, and the mechanical behavior of the built structure. Therefore, this work investigated the impact of the polymeric binder on process behavior and the resulting track properties. To investigate laser-powder sheet interaction and to alter the energy input, advanced highly dynamic beam shaping was used. It was observed that the energy input distribution not only impacts the melt pool dimensions but also the powder sheet behavior. The process vapor impact was concluded to be the main influencing factor for powder sheet warping.