The approximate process range for preparing the Cu-Cr-Zr alloy by selective laser melting (SLM) was determined by ANSYS simulation, and the influence of the SLM process parameters on the comprehensive properties of the SLM-formed alloy was studied by the design of experiments. The Cu-Cr-Zr alloy with optimum strength and hardness was prepared with high efficiency by optimizing the process parameters for SLM (i.e., laser power, scanning speed, and hatching distance). It is experimentally shown that tensile strength and hardness of the SLM alloy are increased by increasing laser power and decreasing scanning speed, whereas they are initially increased and then decreased by increasing the hatching distance. Moreover, strength, roughness and hardness of the SLM alloy are optimized when laser power is 460 W, scanning speed is 700 mm/s and hatching distance is 0.06 mm. The optimized properties of the SLM alloy are a tensile strength of 153.5 MPa, hardness of 119 HV, roughness of 31.384 μm and relative density of 91.62%.
Keywords: hatching distance; laser power; scanning speed; selective laser melting.