The influence of linear energy density and shielding gas flow direction on spatter in SLM process

Qi LIU; Da AN; Xiaodan LI; Guangquan ZHANG; Yue SHAN; Guang YANG

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-1248.2026.04.003

Journal of Shenyang Aerospace University >

2026 , Vol. 43 >Issue 4: 28 - 34

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.2095-1248.2026.04.003

Special Column on Additive Manufacturing of Structures

The influence of linear energy density and shielding gas flow direction on spatter in SLM process

Qi LIU ^,^1a^,^1b ,
Da AN ^1a^,^1b ,
Xiaodan LI ² ,
Guangquan ZHANG ^1a^,^1b ,
Yue SHAN ^1a^,^1b ,
Guang YANG ^,^1a^,^1b

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^1a. College of Mechatronics Engineering
^1b. Liaoning Provincial High-Performance Metal Additive Manufacturing;;Engineering Research Center，Shenyang Aerospace University，Shenyang 110136，China
^2. Science and Technology Innovation Branch，AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Industrial （Group）;;CO. ，Ltd. ，Shenyang 110850，China

Received date: 2026-04-07

Revised date: 2026-05-05

Accepted date: 2026-05-12

Online published: 2026-09-02

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Abstract

In order to study the molten pool and spatter behavior during selective laser melting， a high-speed camera monitoring platform was built. The high-speed camera was used to capture the melting images in the single-channel scanning process under different shielding gas directions and linear energy densities at different exposure times. An image processing method was proposed to process the collected melting process images. The characteristics of spatter under different linear energy density and shielding gas direction were analyzed from the aspects of spatter number， area and angle. It is found that compared with the linear energy density， the direction of the shielding gas direction has a more significant effect on the spatter characteristics. It is recommended to use a lower linear energy density （within an appropriate range） in the selective laser melting process combined with the reverse airflow direction to suppress the spatter.

Key words： selective laser melting; spatter; molten pool; linear energy density; shielding gas flow direction

Cite this article

Qi LIU , Da AN , Xiaodan LI , Guangquan ZHANG , Yue SHAN , Guang YANG . The influence of linear energy density and shielding gas flow direction on spatter in SLM process[J]. Journal of Shenyang Aerospace University, 2026 , 43(4) : 28 -34 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-1248.2026.04.003

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