A process parameters review on selective laser melting-based additive manufacturing of single and multi-material: Microstructure, physical properties, tribological, and surface roughness

Additive manufacturing (AM) combines materials to create parts from three-dimensional model data, often layer by layer. AM is mainly deployed to fabricate complicated geometrical components with high efficiency and low cost. Selective laser melting (SLM) is an AM method that uses a high-power laser beam to melt powder material layer upon layer completely. Multi-material in SLM is due to its potential for specific applications where different material properties achieve comprehensive performance at different locations of the directly manufactured parts. The process parameters (PP) used in SLM are layer thickness (LT), laser power (LP), hatch spacing (HS), and scanning speed (SS). It mainly impacts the porosity, residual stress, fatigue, surface roughness, density, mechanical properties, and product microstructure. This article investigates the selection of suitable PP’s and the influence of SLM PP’s on the quality of parts fabricated from different materials and combinations of multi-materials structures. Finally, it helps to understand each process parameter of SLM, and the future trends of AM in different areas are concluded.