%0 Journal Article
	%A Mukul Shukla and  Rasheedat M. Mahamood and  Esther T. Akinlabi and  Sisa. Pityana
	%D 2012
	%J International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 71, 2012
	%T Effect of Laser Power and Powder Flow Rate on Properties of Laser Metal Deposited Ti6Al4V
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/4310
	%V 71
	%X Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing process with capabilities that include: producing new
part directly from 3 Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD)
model, building new part on the existing old component and repairing an existing high valued component parts that would have
been discarded in the past. With all these capabilities and its advantages over other additive manufacturing techniques, the
underlying physics of the LMD process is yet to be fully understood probably because of high interaction between the processing
parameters and studying many parameters at the same time makes it
further complex to understand. In this study, the effect of laser power
and powder flow rate on physical properties (deposition height and
deposition width), metallurgical property (microstructure) and
mechanical (microhardness) properties on laser deposited most
widely used aerospace alloy are studied. Also, because the Ti6Al4V
is very expensive, and LMD is capable of reducing buy-to-fly ratio
of aerospace parts, the material utilization efficiency is also studied.
Four sets of experiments were performed and repeated to establish repeatability using laser power of 1.8 kW and 3.0 kW, powder flow
rate of 2.88 g/min and 5.67 g/min, and keeping the gas flow rate and
scanning speed constant at 2 l/min and 0.005 m/s respectively. The
deposition height / width are found to increase with increase in laser
power and increase in powder flow rate. The material utilization is favoured by higher power while higher powder flow rate reduces
material utilization. The results are presented and fully discussed.
	%P 2475 - 2479