
High-Speed Ratio Pyrometry of Bulk Metallic Glasses during laser powder bed fusion
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Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are desirable for numerous structural applications due to their high strengths of 2-3 GPa and elastic limits above 2 % [1]. However, their amorphous atomic arrangement necessitates rapid cooling, which is limited in common processing routes such as casting [2]. Laser powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M) recently emerged as a technology to overcome these restrictions. The transient laser-material interaction leads to cooling rates up to 106 K/s [3]. Additionally, the incremental procedure decouples the local cooling rate from the overall part size, eliminating size and geometry restrictions for BMGs [4]. However, the critical cooling rate of most BMG-compositions vastly increases in PBF-LB/M due to the high oxygen contamination present in the atmosphere and powder [5]. Consequently, careful parameter selection that achieves sufficient densification without crystallization is challenging. Geometric implications can further impede heat dissipation and foster undesired crystallization [6–8]. With vastly varying heat capacities and thermal conductivity between the crystalline and amorphous phase, thermographic approaches can overcome these challenges. In this matter, high-speed ratio pyrometry (HSRP) for the in-situ analysis of the thermal cycling potentially fosters process control but also process development for new alloys. An off-axis HSRP set-up was integrated into a commercial PBF-LB/M machine enabling a spot size of ~400 µm sampling in wavelengths from 1.45-1.65 µm and 1.65-1.85 µm at 25 kHz. Different geometries, processing parameters and microstructural conditions were investigated and correlated with the resulting porosity and crystallinity. The profiles of the thermal history distinctively vary based on the applied conditions and resulting part properties. Based on the cooling rates and peak temperatures, porosity but also microstructural defects such as crystallization can be derived. Given an industrial application, the data provides first insights towards process monitoring that can prevent undesired crystallization in PBF-LB/M processed BMGs.