Accelerating alloy design for laser powder bed fusion using melt spinning as a cooling rate proxy
摘要
This study outlines a rapid alloy screening technique that uses melt spinning to predict microstructures attainable in Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets through the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. Melt spinning acts as a proxy, as its solidification kinetics, including cooling rate and direction, closely resemble those in LPBF. The bimodal microstructure of the ternary Nd–Fe–B alloy was optimized through compositional modifications using combined alloying additions of Ti and C, leading to enhanced magnetic properties through grain refinement. The prototypes were additively manufactured using comminuted melt-spun ribbons with a commercial metal 3D printer under a variety of processing conditions to understand the processing-structure–property relationships. X-ray computed tomography (XCT) revealed a defect volume ratio (DVR) of 0.11% indicating a part density of 99.89%, achieved at line energies ranging from 0.25 to 0.28 J/mm.