Effect of scan strategy on the formation of a pure nickel single-crystal structure using a flat-top laser beam via laser powder bed fusion

In this study, the role of a scan strategy in the fabrication of a single crystal (SX) structure of face-centered cubic (fcc) pure Ni using a flat-top laser profile by a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process was investigated. A flat-top laser with a uniform heat intensity across the beam profile was employed to fabricate the SX structure with a <001> texture parallel to the build direction (║BD). A meander scan strategy with an XY-90° scan rotation was required to achieve the flat-top-derived SX structure. The meander scanning strategy promoted the epitaxial <001> fcc growth along the direction ║BD, leading to the <001>║BD texture formation. Meanwhile, the XY-90° scan rotation induced the epitaxial growth of <001> fcc phase on the hatch direction (HD)-scan direction (SD) plane in the direction deviated by approximately 45° relative to the SD. This 45° deviation relative to the SD occurred to accommodate the beam movement and the circular beam geometry on the HD - SD plane, resulting in the preferred configurations of <011>║SD and HD. Thus, this paper reports the importance of meander scanning with a 90° scan-rotation strategy to yield a flat-top-LPBF-derived SX structure with <001>║BD and <011>║SD and HD textures.