Investigation of effect of electron beam melting parameters on overhang structure deformation

Electron beam melting (EBM) is a new and rapidly developing metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology. The unique capabilities of EBM have opened the door for this technology in high-performance applications such as medical implants, aerospace, automotive, etc. However, the building of overhang surfaces without support structure leads to dross formation, distortions and warping. Using the support structures is the solution to avoid the mentioned problems, but increased support structure leads to increased use of materials, and post-processing time, which eventually increases the costs of the final process. This study aims to investigate the effect build parameters EBM process on the warping deformation. The main process parameters are considered and evaluated. The results indicate that the process parameter play a role in overhang structure warping deformations. The minimum deformation (0.28 mm) is resulted with 15 mA current, 4530 mm/s scan speed, 3 mm focus offset and 0.3 mm line offset.