Effect of powder characteristics on the balance of radiation energy in coaxial laser sintering

We have analysed the effect of scattering and absorption by powder microparticles on the transfer of laser energy during laser sintering with powder injection into the sintering zone through a coaxial nozzle. The energy flow into the sintering zone is summed up of a part of the radiation energy transmitted through the dispersion medium to the substrate and the energy carried by the particles heated by the radiation during their transportation from the nozzle to the substrate. We have found that the relative fraction of the energy supply to the substrate by these two channels can be different depending on the process parameters, and therefore the neglect of one of them is generally not justified. It is shown that, when using a two-component powder blend, powder components entering into the interaction zone may have different temperatures, and even be in a different aggregation state (depending on the powder material, particle size and flow parameters). This provides additional opportunities for controlling the process, for example at sintering gradient materials.