Material produced by PBF-LB
Selective laser melting of metallic powder bed

In PBF-LB additive manufacturing, cooling rates are extremely fast (on the order of 10⁴ to 10⁶ K/s) and solidification rates are high (on the order of 10¹ to 10³ mm/s). Consequently, the microstructures obtained in their as-built state may be in a non-equilibrium state, similar to those of quenched materials. Furthermore, successive laser passes generate remelting with heat-affected zones (HAZ, as in welding operations) that can locally alter the material through successive tempering. As a result, the resulting microstructures are often heterogeneous, not only within the molten pool but also between different layers. Depending on the materials, the traces of the molten pools are visible on cross-sections parallel to the Z-direction...