Role of powder particle size on laser powder bed fusion processability of AlSi10mg alloy

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is one of the most promising additive manufacturing (AM) methods which provides an exceptional opportunity to improve the existing designs and move toward fabricating fine features and complex geometries with higher efficiencies. Considering the layer-wise nature of this technique, the possibility of fabricating fine features is tied to the ability to deposit thin powder layers in this process. Since the powder layer thickness is directly dictated by the powder particle size, finer powders are required to further enhance the ability of the L-PBF technique in manufacturing fine features and intricate geometries. Accordingly, this study aims at investigating the processability of fine AlSi10Mg powder (D50 = 9 µm) by using the L-PBF process. The densification level, surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the final parts are investigated in a wide range of process parameters and are compared to those manufactured by the commonly used AlSi10Mg powder (referred to as coarse powder with D50 = 40 µm). The underlying reasons behind the different processability of fine and coarse powders are explored from the density, surface quality, microhardness and dimensional accuracy viewpoints through analyzing the flowability, bed packing density and optical absorption of powders. Moreover, the process-microstructure-microhardness relationship is assessed in detail for both fine and coarse powders. This study reinforces the idea that the utilization of fine powders in the range used in this study for L-PBF processing is rather challenging.