EFFECTS OF POWER DENSITY ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Power density plays an important role in all laser-materials processing methods including additive manufacturing (AM) of metal components. This article provides a review of the definition of power density, heat transfer during AM, the various processing ranges for AM as a function of incident power density, and the effects of travel speed on the processing ranges. Methods for measuring and controlling power density during AM are also discussed, and a relationship between power density and interaction time for melting is outlined.