Comparison of in-process laser drying with furnace and vacuum drying to reduce moisture of AlSi10Mg powder processed in Laser Powder Bed Fusion

In most powder bed-based laser melting systems (PBF-LB), metal powders must be handled without inertization but in an air atmosphere for a short time, increasing the AlSi10Mg powder moisture and reducing the achievable component density. Consequently, different drying methods were investigated. Drying in a furnace with an inert atmosphere, using a vacuum to evaporate the water at low temperatures, and vaporizing moisture layerwise from the spreaded powder with a defocused, low-power laser beam as a further process step of the PBF-LB process. Therefore, four different moisturized powders, which were dried with different settings for the drying methods, are analyzed. All drying methods reduce the moisture content of the powder, with in-process drying being the most effective. Due to the oxide layer growth around the particles during furnace and vacuum drying, the achievable sample density after drying is worse. In-process drying with low energy density is the best option to reach a reduction of hydrogen pores and an increase of density.