Optics and Laser Technology 112 (2019) 159–167

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Optics and Laser Technology

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Full length article

Optimization of processing parameters and establishment of a relationship T

between microstructure and mechanical properties of SLM titanium alloy
⁎
Zhen Wanga, Zhiyu Xiaoa, , Ying Tseb, Chuanshou Huanga, Weiwen Zhanga
a
National Engineering Research Center of Near-Net Shape Forming for Metallic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
b
Guangzhou Zoltrix HIP Material Limited, Guangzhou 511470, China

H I GH L IG H T S

• AThesystematic parameters optimization for surface roughness and relative density of SLM titanium alloy is investigated and an optimal parameter range is obtained.
• A relationship
effect of SLM parameters on acicular α′ (α) martensites refinement and nano-β phase precipitation is discussed.
• between microstructure evolution and mechanical properties is established.

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The processing parameters of a selective laser-melted (SLM) Ti6Al4V alloy were systematically optimized for
Selective laser melted optimal surface roughness and relative density. The relationship between microstructure and mechanical
Ti6Al4V properties were established in the optimal parameter range. The results showed that the optimal laser power and
Parameter optimization scan speed was 200–250 W and 850–1150 mm/s, respectively. The laser power and scan speed played contra-
Microstructure
dicting roles in the resultant roughness and porosity. An appropriate increase in laser power and decrease in scan
Mechanical properties
speed could reduce the surface roughness and simultaneously improve the density and dimensional accuracy.
When the laser power was 200 W, the microstructure varied from equiaxed grains to mixed equiaxed-columnar
grains, and then it varied to columnar grains as the scan speed changed from 250 mm/s to 850–1750 mm/s. The
acicular structure inside the grains transformed from an α (α′) + β phase to an α′ (α) phase with gradual grain
refinement. Some nano-β phase precipitated near the acicular phase. Micro-hardness measurements revealed
different values at the top, middle and bottom of the samples with increasing laser power and showed a reduced
hardness gap with increasing scan speed. However, the elongation continuously increased with increasing scan
speed and reached a maximum value of 7.8% at a scanning speed of 1150 mm/s. Decrease in elongation was
observed when the laser power increased to 275 W. These variations in the hardness and mechanical properties
were attributed to the combined effects of nano-β phase and grain refinement of acicular α (α′) martensites.

1. Introduction and more attention in the preparation of titanium alloy parts [3–6].
SLM technology is a newly developed additive manufacturing pro-
Titanium alloys have a wide variety of applications in aerospace, cesses and uses a high-power laser as the heat source to selectively melt
automotive and biomedical engineering due to their high strength-to- successive layers of powder particles along a set path. It has the ad-
weight ratio, high temperature resistance and biocompatibility [1,2]. vantages of rapid net-shape forming and high efficiency for metal ma-
However, manufacturing processes have always been the most limiting terials. However, as the basis of this technology is a particle welding
problem in the further promotion of titanium alloys because traditional process, defects (such as blowholes, slag and incomplete fusion) are
manufacturing techniques involve highly time, energy and material inevitably generated inside the fabricated parts [7,8], and severe
consuming processing steps. In recent years, this problem has been splashing of the powder and molten pool deteriorate the dimensional
gradually resolved by the advent of additive manufacturing (AM). In accuracy and surface roughness [9,10]. To solve these problems, some
particular, selective laser melting (SLM) technology has attracted more related studies have revealed that the process parameters, such as laser

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Wang), [email protected] (Z. Xiao), [email protected] (Y. Tse),
[email protected] (C. Huang), [email protected] (W. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2018.11.014
Received 24 July 2018; Accepted 3 November 2018
Available online 15 November 2018
0030-3992/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Wang et al. Optics and Laser Technology 112 (2019) 159–167

power, scan speed and powder layer thickness, have a prominent effect samples with dimensions of 60 × 10 × 10 mm were fabricated with a
on developing parts with desired properties (including porosity, powder layer thickness of 30 μm, hatch spacing of 100 μm and different
roughness and mechanical properties) during the SLM process [11–13]. ranges of laser power and scan speed. The specific process parameters
In particular, the porosity and top surface roughness of the as-built are presented in Table 1. The layers were scanned in separate stripes
parts increases continuously with powder layer thickness [14], while using a continuous laser mode and a zigzag pattern, which was alter-
more complicated trends were observed with different intervals of laser nated by 60° between each successive layer as shown in Fig. 2b. Before
power and scan speed. For example, the porosity first increases and experiment, the building chamber was evacuated to an O2 content
then decreases in an as-synthesized Ti6Al4V alloy over a scan speed of below 50 ppm, and then filled with an inert argon atmosphere. The
1500–4500 mm/s [14,15], while a reduction in porosity was found with platform was heated to 200 °C and the temperature was maintained by
scan speeds of 500–1200 mm/s [7,16]. However, previously reports conductively controlled heating elements at a set level throughout the
were studied over a small range of parameters and were not in- process. Following the SLM process, the samples were cut from the
vestigated in detail. Furthermore, a specific optimal range for the substrate with spark erosion wire cutting for performance testing.
parameters was not identified. On the other hand, the process para- Forged Ti6Al4V samples were selected, and their tensile properties
meters also play a crucial role in the microstructure of the resultant were compared with those of SLM samples prepared in the optimal
material. They not only influence the morphology of columnar grains parameter intervals.
[17] but also directly determine the width of the α (α′) and β laths [18]. The roughness of the top surface was first measured by a laser
Generally, the slip length of martensitic α′ plates has a significant effect scanning confocal microscope (OLYMPUS OLS4100) with Gaussian
on the mechanical properties of parts produced by SLM [16,19]. The filtering to evaluate the quality of the SLM surface, and the surface
effective slip length is a function of the α colony size, which is inversely topography was photographed with a scanning electron microscope
proportional to the yield strength and ductility [19,20]. Moreover, (FEI Quanta 200 FEG) to visualize the variation in roughness. Next, the
some components synthesized by SLM exhibit poor mechanical prop- relative density of the samples was measured using the ‘Archimedes-
erties, despite their high obtained densities, which indicates that their method’, and an area fraction analysis of representative micrographs.
mechanical properties at high densities need to be further optimized. To identify their microstructures, the samples were ground with
Current articles almost primarily focus on the influence of the pores on 800–3000 GRIT grinding papers, then polished with an SiO2 polishing
the resultant mechanical properties [21–24], and no studies have re- suspension. Finally, the samples were etched in Kroll reagent (50 ml
ported the influence of microstructure on the mechanical properties H2O + 25 ml HNO3 + 5 ml HF) for microstructural observation. The
over an optimal interval while excluding the impact of pores. microstructures were characterized with an optical microscope (Leica
Therefore, in this study, experiments were designed for the sys- DMI5000M) and a scanning electron microscope (FEI Nova Nano SEM
tematic optimization of parameters, and a parameter range near an 430). The phase constituents were identified with an X-ray dif-
energy density of 42 J/mm3, a scan speed of 960 mm/s and a laser fractometer (X’pert3 Powder) with a Cu-Kα radiation source. Vickers
power of 120 W were selected based on Gong’s proposed optimal hardness measurements were carried out using a micro-hardness in-
parameters for Ti6Al4V samples [21]. We hope to comprehensively strument (HVS-1000) at a load of 200 g and a dwelling time of 15 s to
study the influence of SLM parameters on the roughness and relative evaluate the uniformity of the microstructure at three set positions (top,
density of a Ti alloy and obtain an optimal range of SLM parameters for middle and bottom). Tensile tests (cylindrical specimens with a gauge
titanium alloys. Furthermore, the relationship between the processing length of 25 mm and diameter of 5 mm) were performed using a uni-
parameters, microstructure and mechanical properties is established to versal testing machine (Instron 5967) equipped with a video ex-
provide a theoretical reference for titanium alloys fabricated by SLM. tensometer under quasi-static loading at a rate of 0.6 mm/min.

3. Results and discussion

2. Experimental details
3.1. Surface roughness and melting track
The material used in this study was a gas-atomized spherical
Ti6Al4V powder with an average particle size of 38 μm, as shown in Fig. 3 shows sample roughness as a function of laser scanning speed
Fig. 1. The SLM process was carried out using an SLM Solution 280 HL with different laser power on the top surface of an SLM titanium alloy.
SLM system, which employs double Yb:YAG lasers with a spot size of It is evident that samples fabricated at a low laser power (50 W) have a
90 μm and a maximum laser output power of 400 W (Fig. 2a). Cubic high roughness (approximately 22 μm) and a low dimensional accu-
racy. The top surface of the samples was slightly raised (inset picture in
area 1). With increased laser power, the roughness was effectively re-
duced, and this reduction is more obvious in the low power region
(50–150 W). With increasing scan speed, all samples showed gradually
increasing roughness. This trend was unstable at low powers
(50–100 W) but was stable at relatively high powers (150–250 W).
These trends in roughness are related to the morphology of the melting
tracks, which will be discussed later. When the laser power and scan
speed were in the region of area 2 (Fig. 3), the roughness value reached
its minimum. However, the dimensional accuracy of the samples in area
2 was worse than in area 1. Only when the process parameters within
the red-dotted rectangle (area 3 in Fig. 3), namely, a laser power of
150–250 W and scan speed of 850–1450 mm/s, the samples could ob-
tain a surface with optimal dimensional accuracy and roughness.
To understand the origin of the roughness trends that shown in
Fig. 3, the top surface structures of the as-fabricated samples were in-
vestigated. Fig. 4 shows the top surface features of the scan tracks
fabricated by SLM under different laser powers and scan speeds. It was
obvious that the surface structures varied with the melting tracks. When
Fig. 1. SEM images of the Ti6Al4V powders. the laser power was low (50 W), the surface topography consisted of

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Fig. 2. Laser scanning strategy.

Table 1 3.2. Porosity

SLM processing parameters used in this study.
Manufacturing parameters Value Fig. 5 presents the porosity distribution for SLM Ti6Al4V alloy
samples at various laser powers and scan speeds. When the laser power
Laser power (W) 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 ranged from 50 W to 150 W (low power region), the porous volume
Laser scanning velocity (V, mm/s) 250, 550, 850, 1150, 1450, 1750 fraction had a gradually increasing trend with increasing scan speed.
Laser power density (E, W/mm2) 9–330
Layer thickness (t, μm) 30
Smaller laser power gave larger porosity. Most of the irregular shaped
Hatch distance (δ, μm) 100 pores were formed in the parameter region of the upper right corner in
Hatch angle (θ, °) 60 Fig. 5. This was related to the morphology of the melting tracks, as seen
in Fig. 4. The poor morphology could lead to a non-uniform powder
thickness when the powders are spread. Semi-melted powder particles
and holes would be produced in thicker areas of the powder due to the
insufficient energy input for full powder melting (Fig. 4a1, a2, b5 and
b6). Thus, the low laser power region showed gradually increasing
porosity.
In contrast, when the laser power increased to the power region of
200–250 W, the porous volume fraction was as high as 5% with a scan
speed of 250 mm/s. The large spherical pores were the primary defects
in the parameter region of the bottom left corner in Fig. 5. The porous
volume fraction decreased with increased scan speed. When the scan
speed exceeded 850 mm/s, the porosity dropped below 1%. This result
could be explained as follows. First, excess input energy started in the
bottom left corner region, causing vaporization of the low-melting point
elements in the Ti6Al4V alloy. The alloy vapours did not have sufficient
time to merge into the previous layer before solidification occurred
since the process was dynamic and quick [15]. Second, the pores caused
by the molten pool spraying liquid outwards were also not filled before
solidification [9]. However, the pores disappeared as the scan speed
Fig. 3. Relationship between the surface roughness and the laser power and increased and the amount of vaporization and splashing decreased.
scan speed. As analysed above, for only the laser powers and scan speeds within
the red-dotted region of Fig. 5, both the obtained melting track mor-
phology and molten splashing are optimal, and the porous volume
non-continuous and semi-melted powder particles (Fig. 4a1) because
fraction was less than 1% in the prepared samples. In particular, when
the laser heat input could not completely melt the powder layer with a
the analysis also includes surface roughness, the optimal density and
thickness of 30 μm. As a result, the samples had rough surfaces with an
surface roughness can be obtained only in the blue-dotted region of
average value of approximately 25 μm. When the laser power reached
Fig. 5, i.e., laser power of 200–250 W and scan speed 850–1150 mm/s.
100 W (Fig. 4a2), the powder melting effect and the overlap of the
melting tracks were obviously improved. While the track reinforcement
was still large, some holes and un-melted spherical powder remained 3.3. Microstructures
between the adjacent tracks. Furthermore, necking was also visible in
the laser scanning direction. Consequently, the surface roughness was The microstructures of the materials prepared by SLM have a di-
effectively reduced but still high (red solid line in Fig. 3). When the rectly link to the processing parameters. The optimal parameters not
laser power increased to laser power of 250–275 W, the surface showed only allow a reduction in the number of defects but also give uniform
perfect overlapping of the melting track, the necking and overlapping microstructures. To further study the trends in microstructure evolution
holes on the melting track disappeared, and the number of surface-at- for the optimal parameter intervals determined above, the samples
tached splash powders was also reduced (Fig. 4a3–a6). Therefore, the were studied at a constant laser power. Fig. 6 shows the vertical section
values of roughness gradually decreased with increasing laser power. In of the microstructures of the fabricated Ti6Al4V samples as the scan
contrast, the increased scanning speed reduced the laser's energy input speed varied from 250 mm/s to 1750 mm/s. It was obvious that scan
per unit area, which caused deterioration of the powder melting effect speed played an important role in the microstructure evolution. When
and overlapping of the melting tracks (see Fig. 4b1–b6). As a result, the the scan speed was 250 mm/s, the microstructure consisted of some
top surface showed increasing roughness with increasing scan speed. coarsened and near-equiaxial grains (Fig. 6a). The interior of the grains

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Fig. 4. The top surface features of the scanning tracks fabricated by SLM under different laser powers and scan speeds.

was filled with many acicular α′ (α) structures, which were transformed the epitaxial growth of columnar grains along the building direction. An
from the β phase as a rapid cooling effect of the laser pool. Similar instable molten pool may cause the temperature at the edge of the
results were reported in DLF-processed titanium alloys [18]. Interest- molten pool to be higher than that at the bottom. As a consequence,
ingly, when the scan speed quickly increased to 550 mm/s, the trends in epitaxial growth appeared to be distorted.
the microstructure evolution were clear. The microstructure became a Fig. 7 shows the high-resolution microstructures of the equiaxed
mixture of columnar grains and equiaxial grains (Fig. 6b). When the and columnar grains at scan speeds of 250 mm/s and 1150 mm/s. The
scan speed exceeded 850 mm/s, the microstructure was completely acicular phase was the dominant phase in the sample that shown in
transformed into columnar grains. In this case, the acicular phase was Fig. 7, and is commonly recognized as α′ (α) martensites [25]. Some
still the primary structure of the columnar grains (Fig. 6c-d). However, white nanoparticle phases precipitated at the grain boundary sites of
it is worth noting that the columnar grain boundaries were distorted the acicular structures. The white nanoparticles could be identified as
when the scan speed was increased to 1750 mm/s (Fig. 6f). The interior the β-phase [25,26]. The microstructures of the as-prepared samples
microstructure of the grains was similar to that obtained at the above were a combination of α (α′) and β phases. It is evident that the acicular
scan speed. The varied morphology of the grains was related to rapid structures of the samples fabricated at 250 mm/s were coarsened
laser movement. At slow scan speeds, the slow laser movement in- compared to those of the scan speed of 1150 mm/s (Fig. 7a), and the
creases the energy input and stability of the molten pool. A higher morphology was similar to that of heat-treated samples as reported by
temperature in the molten pool provides enough energy and nuclei for Vilaro [27]. When the scan speed reached at 1150 mm/s, the content of

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Fig. 5. Porosity distribution of SLM-produced Ti6Al4V samples at various laser powers and scan speeds.

β phase nanoparticles decreased (Fig. 7b), and just a few white particles 3.4. Hardness
were scattered on fine acicular α (α′) grain boundaries.
Fig. 8 presents the diffraction peaks of the hcp α (α′) phase, which Fig. 9 shows micro-hardness as a function of laser power and
gradually shifted to lower angles with decreased scanning speed. This scanning speed on the vertical section of samples. Micro-hardness was
indicated that the lattice size was distorted based on the principle of found to increase with increasing laser power, and the measured values
solute redistribution that caused by precipitation of the β-phase. were different at the top, middle and bottom positions of samples.
Moreover, the XRD patterns also showed that the full-width at half Among them, the values obtained on the top of the samples were the
maximum (FWHM) broadened and the intensity of the diffraction peaks highest, and the difference in hardness between the three positions
decreased significantly with increasing scan speed. In general, broad- gradually increased. In recent reports about the relationship between
ening of diffraction peaks is attributed to changes in grain refinement hardness and bed pre-heat temperature, increased hardness was at-
and micro-strain [28]. The SEM images of the α phase in Fig. 7a and b tributed to an increasing amount of nano-β particles between α (α′)
also demonstrated that increasing the scan speed improved the grain laths, and decreased hardness at higher temperature was ascribed to an
refinement of acicular martensites. increase in the size of the α laths, despite the increase in β content
[19,27]. Here, a similar heat treatment was produced in the under-layer
by heat from the laser molten pool. Stronger laser power gives higher

Fig. 6. Optical micrographs of as-prepared Ti6Al4V samples at laser scanning velocities of (a) 250, (b) 550, (c) 850, (d) 1150, (e) 1450 and (f) 1750 mm/s.

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Fig. 7. SEM images of SLM-processed Ti6Al4V samples at laser scan speeds of (a) 250 and (b) 1150 mm/s.

number of laser passes. Therefore, the hardness varied across the top,
middle and bottom positions of samples.
In contrast, the micro-hardness shows two stages with changing
scan speed, i.e., 390 HV in a scan speed range of 250–1150 mm/s and
370 HV in a scan speed range of 1450–1750 mm/s (Fig. 9b). The gap in
micro-hardness between the three positions gradually disappeared,
which suggests that the microstructures of the samples prepared at high
scanning speeds are more uniform. Based on the above interpretation of
the hardness measurements, the emergence of the two stages and a
reduction in the hardness gap can also be due to the effects of nano-β
particles and α (α′) laths.

3.5. Tensile properties and fracture mechanisms

Fig. 10 shows the stress-strain curves of forged and as-prepared

Ti6Al4V alloys. It can be seen that the yield strength and ultimate
tensile strength of the as-built samples were nearly 50% higher than
Fig. 8. XRD spectra of the SLM-processed Ti6Al4V alloy at different scanning those of the forged samples, while the maximum elongation of the SLM
speeds. samples was only about one half of that of the forged samples. This was
caused by extremely fine acicular α (α′) martensites [29]. Here, the as-
temperatures in the under-layer of the sample. As a consequence, a built samples were fabricated using the optimal SLM parameters. The
gradually increasing content of nano-β particles formed between the α porous volume fractions were all below 1%, and the effect of the pores
(α′) laths (Fig. 7a), and the hardness of the as-prepared samples showed on the mechanical properties can be considered negligible [21–23,30].
an upward trend with increasing laser power. Moreover, the higher Therefore, the effect of microstructure evolution on the mechanical
temperature of heat treatment also led to an increase in size of the α properties will be discussed in this section.
(α′) laths in the under-layer (Fig. 7a). The hardness of the under-layer Fig. 11 shows the ultimate tensile strengths (UTS) and elongations
was slightly lower. However, in the top-layer, the size of the α (α′) laths (EL) of the standard tensile specimens prepared with different laser
was fine due to the insufficient heat treatment caused by a lower powers and scanning speeds in the optimal SLM parameter range. It can
be seen that both the laser power and scan speed had a weak effect on

Fig. 9. Relationship between micro-hardness and (a) laser power and (b) scanning speed.

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improved further. As suggested above, the varied elongation was at-

tributed to the combined effects of nano-β particles and grain refine-
ment of the α (α′) martensites.
The fracture characteristics are another important manifestation of
a material’s ductility. There was a closely relationship between the
fracture mechanism and microstructure of the material under different
conditions. In order to study the effect of microstructure of SLM-pro-
cessed titanium alloys on the fracture mechanism, representative frac-
ture surfaces of the tensile samples at different scanning speeds are
shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that the samples fabricated with a scan
speed of 700 mm/s presented a flat fracture surface which inclined with
an angle of 45° to the tensile direction (Fig. 12a). The fracture surface
was characterized by quasi-cleavage facets (Fig. 12b). Additionally,
some equiaxed shallow dimples appeared on the surface of the terrace,
and a few of the cracks can be formed in the step of the terrace. The
fracture morphology showed a typical quasi-cleavage fracture me-
chanism. According to Simonelli [24], the columnar boundaries were
Fig. 10. Stress-strain curves of as-prepared and forged Ti6Al4V alloys. the key weak locations for crack nucleation and growth due to the
difference in the matrix strength and the coarser α-colonies along the
the UTS of the samples, and the average values of UTS basically varied columnar grain boundaries. When samples were fabricated with a scan
from 1350 MPa to 1400 MPa. This may be closely related to the fact speed of 700 mm/s, a high content of nano-β particles precipitated
that the porosity of the as-prepared samples was not significantly dif- along the boundaries of the acicular α (α′) martensites. Meanwhile, the
ferent in the high-density region. However, for the elongation, the ef- acicular α (α′) at the bottom position of the samples coarsened.
fects of laser power and scanning speed presented a distinctly different Therefore, the strength between the nano-β phase and these coarser
trend. The average elongation maintained at approximately 7.8% in the acicular α (α′) martensites was different. In this case, the presence of
laser power range of 200–250 W; however, as the laser power increased both the nano-β phase and these coarser acicular martensites could also
to 275 W, the elongation suddenly dropped to approximately 5%. In lead to the creation of weaker locations for crack nucleation and
terms of scan speed, the elongation significantly increased from 3.8% at spreading inside the columnar grains. A similar explanation is well-
a scan speed of 700 mm/s to 7.8% at a scan speed of 1150–1450 mm/s. documented in the literature for the fatigue of SLM-processed titanium
Here, the effect of the pores on the mechanical properties could be alloys [33]. Conversely, the sample fabricated with a scan speed of
negligible because the porous volume fraction was less than 1%. 1150 mm/s exhibited a typical necking fracture (Fig. 12c). The fracture
Therefore, the effect of microstructure evolution including nano-β surface was primarily composed of dimples accompanied by some
particles and α (α′) martensites becomes important. On one hand, the quasi-cleavage facets. The fracture mechanism was a mix of dimple
formation of β-phase decreases the ductility of titanium alloy [31]. fractures and quasi-cleavage fractures. The microstructure results
Interestingly, in our research, the amount of nano-β particles increased showed that the content of nano-β phase and the size of acicular mar-
with increasing laser power, while it decreased with increasing scan tensites decreased as the scanning speed increased from 700 mm/s to
speed. It is easy to see that the elongation of the samples was reduced 1150 mm/s. This indicated that the bonding sites of the nano-β phase
with a laser power of 275 W and displayed a gradually increasing trend and acicular α (α′) martensites decreased in the columnar grains.
with increasing scan speed. On the other hand, the slip length of the α Therefore, the opportunities for crack nucleation also be decreased in
colonies also played a key role in the elongation of the titanium alloy the columnar grains. More importantly, refinement of the acicular
[32]. The ductility showed an increase with decreasing slip length. The martensites can also decrease the crack propagation rate. Consequently,
slip length of the α colonies was generally equal to the width of the the fracture showed the obvious appearance of dimple fractures.
acicular α (α′) martensites in SLM-processed titanium alloy. As shown
in the microstructure analysis in Section 3.3, some coarse acicular
4. Conclusions
martensites were also obtained under high laser power, and further
deteriorated the elongation of the sample. However, the gradual grain
In this paper, a systematic optimization of SLM processing para-
refinement of α (α′) martensites occurred with increasing scan speed.
meters was carried out to achieve an optimal surface roughness and
The width of the α (α′) martensites decreased, such that the elongation
relative density of SLM-processed titanium alloy to obtain a high-

Fig. 11. Tensile properties of the samples prepared with various laser powers and scanning speeds in the optimal SLM-parameter range.

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Fig. 12. Fracture surface of the tensile test samples prepared with a scanning speed of (a, b) 700 and (c, d) 1150 mm/s.

quality sample with minimal defects and to understand its micro- decreasing elongation only occurred when the laser power in-
structure evolution. Furthermore, tensile properties of the materials creased to 275 W. The changes in elongation were attributed to the
prepared in the optimal SLM parameter intervals were also studied, and combined effects of the grain refinement of α (α′) martensites and
a relationship between the processing parameters, microstructure evo- the nano-β particle.
lution and mechanical properties was established. The findings are
summarized as follows: Acknowledgments

(1) Laser power and scanning speed played an important role in the This work was financially supported by National Natural Science
roughness and relative density of the material. The roughness in- Foundation of major instruments special of China (No. 51627805),
creased with increasing scan speed and decreased with increasing Natural Science Foundation Project of Guangdong Provincial (No.
laser power due to different characteristics of the melting tracks. 2015A030312003), Science and Technology Research Project of
The porosity showed a proportional change in the low laser power Guangdong Province (No. 2014B010129003, 2015B020238008,
region (50–150 W) and an inversely proportional change in the 2016B090931006, 2017B090901025).
high-power region (200–275 W). The optimal SLM parameter range
was a laser power of 200–250 W and scan speed of 850–1150 mm/s. References
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