Crucial Parameters for Additive Manufacturing of Metals : A Study in Quality Improvement

Abstract: Production by Additive Manufacturing creates opportunities to make customized products in small batches with less material than in traditional manufacturing. It is more sustainable and suitable for niche products, but entails new production demands to ensure quality. The goal of this study is to define the most crucial parameters when creating Additive Manufactured products in metal and suggest tools for quality improvement. This is done by analysing earlier studies and evaluating the standard production procedures for manufacturing by Selective Laser Melting. The results from this study stated that porosity and insufficiencies in shape are the most common factors leading to deviation in quality. To avoid it, the most crucial parameters to consider are; The laser freeform fabrication-system related parameters, hatch distance, laser power, layer thickness, fscanning pattern, scan speed and flowability of the powder. Concluded is also that crucial parameters within additive manufacturing are very dependent on the definition of quality for a certain product and can therefore vary. By continuous collection and analysis of data, the task of improving quality will be simplified.