Open AccessCalculation of laser absorption by metal powders in additive manufacturing
Author(s) -
C. D. Boley,
Saad A. Khairallah,
Alexander M. Rubenchik
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
applied optics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 2155-3165
pISSN - 1559-128X
DOI - 10.1364/ao.54.002477
Subject(s) - materials science , absorption (acoustics) , optics , laser , attenuation coefficient , metal powder , metal , scattering , spheres , laser beams , fusion , composite material , metallurgy , linguistics , philosophy , physics , astronomy
We have calculated the absorption of laser light by a powder of metal spheres, typical of the powder employed in laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing. Using ray-trace simulations, we show that the absorption is significantly larger than its value for normal incidence on a flat surface, due to multiple scattering. We investigate the dependence of absorption on powder content (material, size distribution, and geometry) and on beam size.