A spiral laser scanning routine for powder bed fusion inspired by natural predator-prey behavior

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nature-inspired spiral laser scanning pattern for powder bed fusion that reduces thermal variation and improves part quality, especially for crack-prone materials, through simulation comparisons with traditional patterns.

Contribution

A novel spiral scan pattern inspired by predator-prey behavior is proposed, enhancing thermal uniformity in LPBF processes compared to conventional methods.

Findings

Spiral pattern reduces temperature variation across the scan area.

Larger area remains above threshold temperature with spiral pattern.

Potential for improved quality in crack-prone material manufacturing.

Abstract

Additive manufacturing by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) offers material versatility, capability for complex geometries, and control of mechanical properties and microstructure. However, achieving high-quality output requires process parameters that consider both local and global thermal gradients. Here, we propose a new scan pattern for mitigating part quality issues caused by non-uniform heating and cooling. A nature-inspired design method is employed to derive a spiral pattern stemming from the predator-prey behavior, and a power optimization routine is applied to maintain constant melt pool depth. Comparing simulated thermal histories for the spiral pattern to well-established zig-zag and helix scan patterns, we propose that the spiral pattern significantly reduces the spatial variation of temperature across the scan area, while a larger area remains above a specified threshold temperature at the end of the scan. Consequently, the spiral pattern is promising for LPBF of crack-prone materials, and for future optimization of LPBF overall.