Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Metal Coated Copper Powders

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) of copper alloys with high copper content is difficult due to the high infrared reflectivity and thermal conductivity of these alloys. In this study a simple and scalable method for coating copper powder with tin and nickel is presented, and suggested as an alloying strategy for such alloys. The coated powders were processed in a commercial L-PBF-machine at various scanning speeds. The samples made from coated powders show a lower amount of porosity compared to samples made from in-situ alloyed powders of similar composition.