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Fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology decreases production time and cost in engineering industry, but with typical low surface quality. In this study, laser polishing was employed to improve surface quality of copper fiber/polylactide acid (Cu/PLA) composite parts fabricated by FDM. Surface roughness, surface morphology, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and tensile properties were studied. The results showed that after laser polishing, the surface roughness was reduced by more than 91% (from 10.52 to 0.87 μm Sa) at the optimized parameters (the laser power of 5 W and the laser beam diameter of 200 μm). Laser polishing can effectively remove surface defects formed during FDM. DMA showed that the storage modulus, loss modulus, and glass transition temperature of Cu/PLA composites were significantly improved, because the Cu fibers and PLA matrix formed a strong interfacial adhesion after treatment. Moreover, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the Cu/PLA composites sample also improved by laser polishing. The fracture morphologies were observed, and the possible strengthening mechanism was also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the layer-by-layer deposition characteristic of fused deposition modeling (FDM) process, parts produced via FDM have typical low surface quality and do not satisfy the requirements for end-use applications. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the surface quality of parts produced via FDM. In this study, laser polishing technology was employed to enhance the surface quality of aluminum fiber/polylactide acid (Al/PLA) composite parts produced via FDM. The surface roughness, surface morphology, dynamic mechanical properties, and tensile properties were investigated. With optimal polishing parameters, the laser polishing process removed the defects formed during the FDM process. The surface roughness was reduced from the initial value of 5.64 μm to 0.32 μm (Ra). The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results showed that there was a remarkable improvement in the storage modulus (E ′), loss modulus (E "), and glass transition temperature of Al/PLA composite specimens after laser polishing. The re-melted and polished surface of the specimens also led to improvement in the tensile strength and Young's modulus. Lastly, the fracture morphologies were observed, and the possible strengthening mechanism was also discussed. These results indicate that laser polishing can be an efficient method for the surface polishing of FDM-printed parts. Unlabelled Image • Laser polished additive manufactured Al/PLA has higher surface quality and many defects are removed. • A maximum reduction in Al/PLA surface roughness of over 93% is achieved at optimized polishing settings. • Laser polishing effectively improves the dynamic mechanical properties and tensile properties of the FMD Al/PLA. • The strengthening mechanism induced by laser polishing is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pores- and cracks-free TiC/IN625 coatings over AISI 1045 steel were firstly prepared by EHLA. • EHLA TiC/IN625 coatings possessed much more uniform and finer microstructure. • High resistance is attributed to lower surface roughness, smaller dendrite size, smaller grain size, and higher amount of LAGBs. The multi-layer TiC/IN625 coatings were deposited on AISI 1045 steel substrate by conventional laser cladding (CLA) and extreme high-speed laser cladding (EHLA). The surface morphology, microstructure and high-temperature oxidation resistance of the TiC/IN625 coatings were characterized and compared. The results showed that the cladding speed has a significant effect on surface quality. Within the range of the set parameters, the best surface quality is obtained when the cladding speed is 49.8 m/min, where Ra is 11.75 μm and Sa is 13.17 μm. The microstructure of the TiC/IN625 coatings is dominated by dendrites. Smaller dendrites arm spacing and no apparent transition layer are found at the layer-to-layer interface in the EHLA sample. A two-layered oxide structure is formed in the cross-section of all samples. The EHLA sample exhibits a lower mass loss compared to the CLA sample, indicating that EHLA sample can withstand high-temperature oxidation. The improvement of high-temperature oxidation resistance is mainly attributed to the lower surface roughness, smaller dendrite size, smaller grain size, and higher amount of LAGBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme high-speed laser cladding (EHLA) was used to develop a pore- and crack-free TiC/IN625 coating. The surface roughness of EHLA could be as low as 6.004 µm. A more uniform dendrite size and composition distribution was obtained by EHLA. The mass gain of EHLA was 57.5% lower than that of the conventional laser cladding sample after hot corrosion in a mixed salt of 75%Na 2 SO 4 + 25% NaCl at 900 ℃ for 60 h. High hot corrosion resistance of EHLA was mainly attributed to the lower surface roughness, smaller dendrite size, smaller grain size, and higher amount of low-angle grain boundaries. • Pores- and cracks-free TiC/IN625 coatings over AISI 1045 steel were firstly prepared by EHLA. • EHLA TiC/IN625 coatings possessed much more uniform and finer microstructure. • The uniformly distributed dendrite sizes and compositions contributed to the formation of a dense oxide film. • Superior hot corrosion behavior of EHLA TiC/IN625 coatings was mainly attributed to the lower surface roughness, smaller dendrite size, smaller grain size, and more low-angle grain boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although fused deposition modeling (FDM) has gradually become one of the popular additive manufacturing technologies in different industries, high surface roughness has always been an inevitable disadvantage of FDM parts. Laser polishing represents a recent and novel application of laser surface irradiation that can be used for precise, post-process smoothing of the rough surfaces commonly encountered on FDM parts. The influence of laser polishing on surface modification and mechanical properties of aluminum/Polylactic Acid (Al/PLA) composites has been investigated. Laser scanning speed was varied to evaluate its effect on the surface quality and mechanical properties of the experimental samples. The results indicated that laser polishing could enable reductions in surface roughness of over 86.6% (from 23.27 μm to 3.11 μm Sa). The tensile strength of specimen also increased from 41.01 MPa to 51.31 MPa with increasement of 25.1%. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results showed that there was a remarkable improvement in the storage modulus and glass transition temperature of Al/PLA composite specimens after laser polishing, which suggested that the laser polishing treatment could play a role in decreasing the porosity inside the FDM parts and improve interfacial adhesion between the PLA matrix and Al fibers. Moreover, the fracture morphologies were observed to investigate the possible strengthening mechanism. These results demonstrate how laser polishing can simultaneously smooth and modify the surface characteristics of a FDM part surface. Image 1 • Laser polished additive manufactured Al/PLA has higher surface quality and many defects are removed. • A maximum reduction in Al/PLA surface roughness is achieved at optimized polishing settings (laser scan speed of 100 mm/s). • Laser polishing effectively improves the dynamic mechanical properties and tensile properties of the FMD Al/PLA. • After laser polishing treated, Al/PLA composite specimens had a higher storage modulus and glass transition temperature. • The strengthening mechanism induced by laser polishing is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) produces parts through layer by layer on the top of each other, making it almost impossible to obtain smooth printed parts. Hence, there is a huge demand for the postprocessing of the FDM‐printed parts. Laser polishing is a novel technique that can be used to polish products to obtain a smoother surface. The aim of this work was to explore the feasibility of surface‐finishing FDM‐printed polylactic acid (PLA) parts by laser polishing. The surface roughness, surface morphology, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and tensile properties were investigated. The results indicated that the lower laser power and the bigger laser beam diameter within a certain range could facilitate the formation of smoother surface. With optimized parameters, the surface roughness was reduced by 90.4%. DMA showed that the storage modulus (E') and glass transition temperature of PLA specimens were significantly improved due to the decrease of molecular mobility of denser structures. Moreover, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the PLA specimen were also significantly increased after laser polishing. The fracture morphologies were observed, and the possible strengthening mechanism was also discussed. These results indicated that laser polishing could be an efficient method for surface polishing of FDM parts. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48288. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While metal additive manufacturing has seen significant growth in recent years, the surfaces produced often need post-processing to improve surface finish, mitigate residual stresses, and remove surface-connected porosity. Laser polishing, by means of remelting a thin layer of the surface, is one post-processing method being investigated for surface finish improvements and other surface enhancements. In this work, the surface morphology and microstructure of laser powder bed fused (L-PBF) stainless-steel 316 L (316 L) before and after laser polishing are characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the cross-sectional microhardness of the samples is measured and reported. Additionally, the as-built and laser-polished sample's tensile properties are characterized using uniaxial tension tests. The results indicate that the surface roughness of as-built 316 L (Sa = 4.84 μm) can be substantially reduced through laser polishing (Sa = 0.65 μm). After laser polishing, the average grain diameter is reduced and the proportion of low angle grain boundaries (2°~5°) is increased in the L-PBF 316 L. The maximum sub-surface hardness reaches 262 HV, and both the tensile strength and ductility of 316 L are increased after laser polishing. This enhancement is attributed to thermal cycling stresses, grain refinement, the elimination of surface defects, and dislocation strengthening after laser polishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal presents a host of problems to engineers and opticians. Moreover, because of its anisotropic character, a particular crystal orientation and plane wave transmission are required while the machining process is performed. In this study, by applying the principle of the maximized shearing deformed specific energy and the different shearing elastic modulus along different crystal planes and orientations, a theoretical model to calculate the shear angles when cutting KDP crystal was established. Based on this model, the shear angles’ variation regularity under different cutting conditions was obtained. Additionally, the variation regularities of cutting forces and roughness on different crystal planes were discussed. The results indicate that on different crystal planes the average cutting force and roughness as well as their variation amplitude are different. In addition, the calculated results show that rake angle plays an important role on suppression and minimizing material anisotropic character. Furthermore, the ultra-precision turning and milling experiments were conducted, and the theoretical model matched the experiments well within normal operating conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]