Selective Laser Melting and Direct Metal Deposition: From process fundamentals towards advanced products

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a powder-based and laser assisted additive manufacturing technology capable to produce parts layer-by-layer from a 3D CAD model. Nowadays SLM is used in various industrial domains including aerospace, automotive, electronic, chemical and biomedical, as well as other high-tech areas. Industrial interest is focussed on manufacturing of fully functional objects with high geometrical complexity and excellent mechanical properties. Properties of the manufactured parts depend strongly on each single laser-melted track and each single layer, as well as the strength of the connections between them.