Selective Laser Melting of Porous Structures

Within the Center of Smart Interfaces “Understanding and Designing Fluid Boundaries”, a German Excellence Initiative, the Institute of Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools examines the manufacturing of porous structures by using selective laser melting (SLM). In this paper two different strategies are presented in order to obtain porosity: One strategy is to manufacture geometrically defined lattice structures. SLM allows here complex geometries that cannot be manufactured by conventional technologies to be built. The second approach is to manufacture geometrically undefined porosity by a specific modification of exposure parameters. The SLM generated porous structures are investigated with respect to the heat and mass transfer. The research focus is to increase the efficiency of spraycooling effects and the manipulation of the Leidenfrost point.