An investigation into direct fabrication of fine-structured components by selective laser melting

This paper presents the direct fabrication of 3 mm-sized components applied in some practical fields using a selective laser melting (SLM) machine with fiber laser: a radiator with variable-section thin wall, an optical component with required smooth surface, and a throttle with a complicated cavity. Dimensional precision, geometric defect, and selection of fabrication direction were discussed after the implementing experiments. Experimental results showed that the minimum absolute error in the wall thickness of the radiator was about 20 mu m, the roughness of the optical component should be improved by post-processes, and the cavity of the throttle could be successfully fabricated using tiling display. The current study raises several issues during selective laser melting of fine-structured components which need to be solved before expansion of SLM to practical applications.