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Striking differences in the solidification textures of a nickel based alloy owing to changes in laser scanning pattern during additive manufacturing are examined based on theory and experimental data. Understanding and controlling texture are important because it affects mechanical and chemical properties. Solidification texture depends on the local heat flow directions and competitive grain growth in one of the six <100> preferred growth directions in face centered cubic alloys. Therefore, the heat flow directions are examined for various laser beam scanning patterns based on numerical modeling of heat transfer and fluid flow in three dimensions. Here we show that numerical modeling can not only provide a deeper understanding of the solidification growth patterns during the additive manufacturing, it also serves as a basis for customizing solidification textures which are important for properties and performance of components.

This paper describes a direct write laser technology, which is fast and flexible, for fabricating multiple-level microfluidic channels. A high brightness diode-pumped Nd-YAG laser with slab geometry was used for its excellent beam quality. Channels with flat walls and staggered herringbone ridges on the floor have been successfully fabricated and their ability to perform passive mixing of liquid is discussed. Also, a multi-width multi-depth microchannel has been fabricated to generate biomimetic vasculatures whose channel diameters change according to Murray's law, which states that the cube of the radius of a parent vessel equals the sum of the cubes of the radii of the daughters. The multi-depth architecture allows for flow patterns to resemble physiological vascular systems with lower overall resistance and more uniform flow velocities throughout the network compared to planar patterning techniques which generate uniformly thin channels. The ability to directly fabricate multiple level structures using relatively straightforward laser technology enhances our ability to rapidly prototype complex lab-on-a-chip systems and to develop physiological microfluidic structures for tissue engineering and investigations in biomedical fluidics problems.

Articles you may be interested inThe coaxial laser cladding process is the heart of direct metal deposition ͑DMD͒. Rapid materials processing, such as DMD, is steadily becoming a tool for synthesis of materials, as well as rapid manufacturing. Mathematical models to develop the fundamental understanding of the physical phenomena associated with the coaxial laser cladding process are essential to further develop the science base. A three-dimensional transient model was developed for a coaxial powder injection laser cladding process. Physical phenomena including heat transfer, melting and solidification phase changes, mass addition, and fluid flow in the melt pool, were modeled in a self-consistent manner. Interactions between the laser beam and the coaxial powder flow, including the attenuation of beam intensity and temperature rise of powder particles before reaching the melt pool were modeled with a simple heat balance equation. The level-set method was implemented to track the free surface movement of the melt pool, in a continuous laser cladding process. The governing equations were discretized using the finite volume approach. Temperature and fluid velocity were solved for in a coupled manner. Simulation results such as the melt pool width and length, and the height of solidified cladding track were compared with experimental results and found to be reasonably matched.

(Received 19 September 1979; accepted for publication 12 October 1979) A three-dimensional heat transfer model for laser material processing with a moving Gaussian heat source is developed using finite difference numerical techniques. In order to develop the model, the process is physically defined as follows: A laser beam, having a defined power distribution, strikes the surface of an opaque substrate of infinite length but finite width and depth moving with a uniform velocity in the positive x direction (along the length). The incident radiation is partly reflected and partly absorbed according to the value of the reflectivity. The reflectivity is considered to be zero at any surface point where the temperature exceeds the boiling point. This is because a ’’keyhole’’ is considered to have formed which will act as a black body. Some of the absorbed energy is lost by reradiation and convection from both the upper and lower surfaces while the rest is conducted into the substrate. That part of the incident radiant power which falls on a keyhole is considered to pass into the keyhole losing some power by absorption and reflection from the plasma within the keyhole as described by a Beer Lambert absorption coefficient. Matrix points within the keyhole are considered as part of the solid conduction network, but operating at fictitiously high temperatures. The convective heat transfer coefficient is enhanced to allow for a concentric gas jet on the upper surface as used for shielding in welding and surface treatment, but not cutting. The system is considered to be in a quasi-steady-state condition in that the thermal profile is considered steady relative to the position of the laser beam. The advantages of this method of calculation over others are discussed together with comparisons between the model predictions and experiments in laser welding, laser arc augmented welding, laser surface treatment, and laser glazing. The system is assumed to be in a quasi-steady-state condition after the keyhole initiation period which for most practical purposes may be considered instantaneous.

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