Investigation of Scanning Strategies and Laser Remelting Effects on Top Surface Deformation of Additively Manufactured IN 625

The main drawbacks of the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) process are the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of manufactured parts due to the edge and corner effects. These effects can be diminished by using an appropriate balance of the process parameters and scanning strategies. This paper focuses on the assessment of reducing the edge and corner effects that occur in additively manufactured IN 625 alloy via the LPBF technique by varying the hatch angle rotation (by 45°, 67°, and 90°) and volumetric energy density (VED), and using the laser top surface remelting technique (LSR). The edge and corner effects of the cubic samples were quantitatively evaluated on the top surface by 3D laser surface scanning. It was found that the edge and corner effects became more pronounced in the cases of samples built with no contour and hatch angles of 45° and 67°, while the smallest deformations were obtained when the hatch angle was rotated by 90°. Moreover, the heights of both the edge and corner ridges increase as the number of remeltings passing the top layer increases. Conversely, when a lower VED was used for melting the top layer(s) of the samples, the edge and corner ridges were slightly reduced.