Friction and wear behaviour of rapid prototype

parts by direct metal laser sintering

C. S. Ramesh*1, C. K. Srinivas2 and K. Srinivas3
Rapid prototyping and manufacturing (RP/M) is one of the proven tools for product development
owing to its advantages such as short product cycle, high quality product and possibility of
fabricating functionally gradient materials. Several RP/M techniques do exist. Among them, direct
metal laser sintering (DMLS) method is quite popular as near net shape components with high
dimensional accuracies can be manufactured. Meager information is available as regards the
tribological behaviour of laser built parts, although this is vital in judging the suitability of built-up
parts for applications where sliding is inevitable. In the light of the above, the present investigation
is aimed at building parts by DMLS technique of RP/M using 50 mm iron powder and
characterising its density, microstructure, microhardness, tensile strength, friction and wear
behaviour under sliding conditions. The effect of laser speed on the above properties of built-up
parts has been studied. The build layer thickness was maintained at 50 mm. Laser diameter of
0?4 mm, laser power of 180 W and hatch spacing of 0?2 mm were adopted. However, the laser
speed was varied from 50 to 125 mm s21 in steps of 25 mm s21. Laser speed had a profound
influence on density, microstructure, microhardness, tensile strength, friction and wear behaviour
of built-up parts. Lesser laser speed resulted in higher density, microhardness, tensile strength
and wear resistance while higher laser speed promoted lowering of coefficient of friction.
Keywords: Laser, Prototyping, Wear, Iron powder, Direct metal laser sintering

Introduction
Rapid prototyping refers to a class of technologies that
can automatically construct physical models directly
from computer aided design (CAD) data. Rapid
prototyping has emerged as a powerful technology in
reducing product development cycle.1,2 Kruth has
discussed different rapid prototyping processes and
classified them in to three groups based on the state of
material before part formation, namely liquid, powder
and solid sheets.3 Powder based process is based on the
solidification of fine powder either with laser or by
application of binding agent. Laser sintering is one of
the proven technologies for producing metal prototypes
and tooling directly from CAD data. Researchers all
over the world are experimenting with different materials by using laser and electron beam energy for sintering
of metal powders. Research work related to the
development of metal powders by laser sintering and
characterisation of mechanical, structural and tribological properties of laser sintered parts are discussed
herewith. Khaing et al. have produced parts using

Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES Institute of Technology,

Bangalore, India
Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, Tumkur Road, Bangalore
560 022, India
3
Mechanical Engineering, AMC College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
*Corresponding author, email csr_gce@yahoo.co.in
2

2007 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and

W. S. Maney & Son Ltd
Received 6 March 2007; accepted 24 September 2007
DOI 10.1179/175158407X231330

bronze nickel powder by direct metal laser sintering

(DMLS) process and have evaluated the dimensional
accuracy, surface roughness, impact toughness, hardness
and strength.4 Simchi et al. have performed experiments
on sintering a mixture of iron, carbon, copper,
molybdenum and nickel and have evaluated the
mechanical properties of sintered parts.5 Simchi et al.
have studied the effects of laser processing parameters
on the microstructure and densification of iron powder.
They have reported that an increase in laser energy
enhances the density of sintered iron parts.6 Murali et al.
have studied microstructure, microhardness and wear of
laser sintered iron graphite built-up parts. It is reported
that laser sintering of iron and graphite powder
produces a material, which is substantially different
from the same produced by conventional sintering.7
Miners et al. have performed experiments on laser
sintering of 316L stainless steel and TiAl6V4 parts. They
have reported that the sintered parts have higher density
(99%), tensile strength and yield strength values close to
that of bulk material.8 Das et al. have experimented on
sintering of Inconel 625, Ti6Al4V and 17-4 PH
stainless steel using Nd: YAG laser and have achieved
porous free sintered parts.9 Hejmadi et al. have
successfully produced steel mould by selective laser
sintering followed by infiltration with copper. Reduction
in lead time for making mould and mould life of at least
50 000 plastic parts is reported.10 Fessler et al. have
focused on controlling the thermal stresses in parts

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produced by laser cladding. It is reported that 316L

stainless steel parts produced by laser cladding have
tensile strength similar to bulk material.11 Kobryn et al.
have studied the effect of process variables and substrate
thickness on macrostructure, microstructure, porosity
and build height of laser deposited Ti6Al4V parts
using laser engineering net shaping system.12 Dolinsek
has performed experiments for improving the life of
DMLS moulds by coating them with nickel and
titanium nitride.13 Kahlen et al. have developed a set
of process parameter selection rules using Buckinghams
P theorem to deposit good metal part by laser
sintering,14 Niu et al. have focused on optimising the
process parameters like power, scan line spacing and
grain size of M2 high speed steel powder for producing
sound parts by CO2 laser sintering.15 Rombouts et al.
have investigated the effects of process parameters and
alloying elements such as oxygen, copper, silicon,
titanium and carbon on the quality of two-dimensional
and three-dimensional iron based parts.16 Simchi et al.
have extensively studied the effect of process parameters
while sintering iron powder and reported that at
constant laser scan spacing, the sintered density of iron
is reduced with increasing scan rate or decreasing laser
power. The sintered density is slightly affected by the
atmosphere.17 Chong et al. have experimented on the
bonding of Mo/WC surface metal matrix composite on
aluminium alloy by laser cladding. They have reported
that an excellent bonding of composite is achieved with
hardness and abrasive wear properties superior to that
of aluminium alloy.18 Takacs et al. have studied the
friction and wear behaviour of laser sintered phosphor
bronze specimens using pin on disc equipment.19
Fernandez et al. have investigated the wear behaviour
of laser clad NiCrBSi coating on grey cast iron using
block on ring dry sliding linear contact at several
loads.20 Gopinath et al. have performed experiments to
study the effect of sliding velocity and contact pressure
on the friction and wear of iron produced by conventional sintering process.21 Amsallem et al. have focused
on unlubricated frictional behaviour of bulk iron and
iron produced by conventional sintering. The influence
of surface preparation and effect of oxides, nitrides on
wear are discussed.22
Tooling produced by laser sintering finds wider
application in metal forming, plastic moulding, rubber
moulding and die casting applications. The relative
movement between die and sheet metal in the case of
drawing operation, hot material flowing at high
pressures in plastic moulds and die casting dies, requires
high wear resistant properties in tooling. However
meagre information is available as regards the study
on effect of laser process parameters on tribological
properties of laser sintered parts.
In the light of the above, the present paper focuses on
investigating the effect of laser speed on density,
microstructure, microhardness, tensile strength and
coefficient of friction and wear behaviour of laser
sintered iron parts.

Experimental
Test specimens were built by DMLS, using 50 mm iron
powder whose morphology is shown in Fig. 1. The
powders have a spherical shape with agglomeration
being observed.

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1 Scanning electron micrograph of iron powder

Direct metal laser sintering machine (EOSINT M250)

consists of a continuous wave carbon dioxide laser,
optics, powder handling unit, building platform and
process computer.23 A steel base plate is mounted on the
building platform of DMLS machine with four screws.
Top surface of the base plate is made parallel with
respect to recoating blade, maintaining an accuracy of
0?01 mm, using dial indicator. Iron powder of 50 mm
grain size is filled in dispenser of DMLS machine.
Powder is thoroughly rammed so that all the trapped air
is vented out. Fifty micrometre layer of iron powder is
spread on to the steel base plate, which is then exposed
to a laser beam of power 180 W and beam diameter of
0?40 mm to achieve sintering of powder. Sintering speed
was varied from 50 to 125 mm s21 in steps of
25 mm s21, while hatch spacing, hatch width and layer
thickness were maintained constant at 0?2 mm, 5 mm
and 50 mm respectively. No inert gas atmosphere was
used during sintering and specimens are sintered in
ambient atmosphere. The laser scan pattern adopted
was updown stripe. Density of sintered parts was
evaluated using Archimedess principle of weighing first
in air and then in water. Porosity of sintered parts has
been determined by comparing with theoretical density
of solid iron, the value of which is taken as 7?8 g cm23.
Sintered specimens built at different laser speeds were
cut along and normal to build direction and polished for
metallographic and X-ray diffractometry observations.
Microhardness tests have been conducted at different
locations along the build directions of built-up parts
using a load of 25 g for test duration of 10 s. Tensile
tests were performed using INSTRON- 5560 tensile
tester adopting a strain rate of 0?5 mm min21. Ultimate
tensile strength and percentage elongation were evaluated. Pin on disc type wear tester was employed for
carrying out the friction and wear studies. The counter
disc was a hardened ball bearing steel EN31 having
nominal composition of carbon 1?0%, manganese
0?37%, chromium 1?6% and remaining iron. The
dimensions of the counter disc were 160 mm diameter
and 8 mm thick, while its hardness was 60 HRC.
Cylindrical flat nosed sintered specimens of dimensions
10 mm diameter and height 25 mm served as pins. The
surface roughness of sintered iron parts and counter disc
were maintained at centre line average (CLA) values of
0?9 and 0?8 mm respectively before all the friction and
wear tests. Friction and wear tests were carried out
under different loads and sliding velocities. Loads were
varied from 1080 N in steps of 10 N, while the sliding
velocities were varied from 0?42 to 3?35 m s21. Test
duration of 30 min was adopted for all the tests. Before

Ramesh et al.

Friction and wear behaviour of rapid prototype parts by direct metal laser sintering

transducer (LVDT) of accuracy 1 mm. The wear rates

of sintered samples were evaluated using the following
equation
Wear rate~dh SA =NL

(1)

where dh is height loss, SA is surface area, L is Sliding

distance and N is normal load.

Results and discussions

Density and porosity

2 Variation of a density and b porosity with laser sintering speed

Figure 2a and b shows the variation of density and

porosity of sintered parts with different sintering speeds
respectively. Enhancement in the density and decrease in
porosity of the sintered parts with reduced sintered
speed is noticed. Lower the laser speed, higher is the
energy absorbed by the powder at the time of sintering,
resulting in improved melting and higher density. These
observations are in agreement with several other
researchers while sintering iron and steel powder.6,24,25

Microstructural and XRD studies

each test, the specimens and counter disc were cleaned
with acetone. Fresh track on the counter disc was used
for each test. The coefficient of friction was determined
using frictional force data while wear rates were
evaluated by using height loss data measurements. The
frictional force was measured using a force transducer
of accuracy 1 N, while the height loss of the specimen
was measured using a linear variable differential

Figures 3 and 4 show the optical micrographs of

specimens built with sintered speed of 50, 75 and
125 mm s21. These micrographs clearly indicate that
the laser speed has significant effect on microstructure of
the built-up parts in both built and normal to built
direction. The intensity of cracking and level of porosity
gets reduced with decreased sintering speeds. However,
it is also observed that the increased laser speed results

a sintered at 125 mm s21; b sintered at 75 mm s21; c sintered at 50 mm s21

3 Optical microphotographs of cross-section of specimen along build direction

a sintered at 125 mm s21; b sintered at 75 mm s21; c sintered at 50 mm s21

4 Optical microphotographs of cross-section of specimen normal to build direction

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5 X-ray pattern of iron sintered at laser speed of a

50 mm s21 and b 125 mm s21

in larger deposits of unmelted powders as shown in

Fig. 3a. This can be attributed to the fact that the total
amount of heat energy supplied at higher sintering
speeds may not be quite sufficient to achieve complete
melting of powder. X-ray diffraction spectra of the
sintered samples at speeds of 50 and 125 mm s21 are
shown in Fig. 5a and b. It is observed that both oxides
and nitrides of iron are present in the sintered samples.
Further, it is noticed that the extent of their presence is
highest at lowest sintering speed adopted.

Microhardness
The variations of microhardness at different laser scan
speeds along build direction are shown in Fig. 6. It is
observed that there is drastic variation in microhardness
of the built-up parts at all sintering speeds. However, a
decrease in laser scan speed results in increased microhardness of the built-up parts. A peak hardness of
370 HV is observed for built-up parts sintered at
50 mm s21. The improvement in the microhardness of
the built-up parts at lower laser speeds can be attributed
to the higher density of the built-up parts. It is this density
value that dictates the hardness of sintered materials. The
severe drop in the microhardness at specific locations of
the built-up parts can mainly be attributed to the voids or
unmelt region and/or cracks. The increased hardness of
sintered parts at lower sintering speed can also be
attributed to the presence of hard nitrides and oxides of
iron, which act as barriers for dislocation motion.

a sintered at 125 mm s21; b sintered at 75 mm s21; c

sintered at 50 mm s21
6 Microhardness of built-up parts along build direction

Tensile strength
Figure 7a and b shows the variation of tensile strength
and percentage elongation of the built-up parts at
different laser speed. It is observed that there is drastic
improvement of tensile strength as well as ductility with
decrease in laser speed. Laser energy density is indirectly
proportional to scan speed26 and hence a decrease in
laser speed results in increased laser energy density
leading to better microstructural integrity, which results

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7 Variation of a elongation and b tensile strength with

laser sintering speed

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8 Variation of coefficient of friction with laser sintering

speed

in better mechanical strength. The improvement in

strength due to reduced laser speeds can also be
attributed to the increased density and microhardness
of the built-up parts as discussed in the earlier section.
The improvement in percentage elongation can be
mainly attributed to improved density levels with
decreased laser speeds. Presence of large extent of
porosities will always reduce the fracture toughness of
the material, which in turn leads to poor ductility.
Further improved strength of sintered parts at lower
laser speeds can be mainly attributed to the presence of
oxides of iron as evidenced in XRD studies. The
improvement in strength of sintered iron on oxidation
has also been reported by Harold et al.27

Coefficient of friction
Figure 8 shows the variation of laser scan speed on
coefficient of friction of built-up parts. It is observed
that increased laser speed has resulted in reduced
coefficient of friction. This can be attributed probably
to the larger extent of porosity. Decreased density of the
sintered parts will result in lesser probability of asperity
interaction, which in turn reduces the friction during the
sliding motion of the mating parts. Further, with
decreased laser speeds, there is increased content of
oxides and nitrides of iron. The eventual breakdown of
these inclusions during sliding, leading to greater
exposure of contact surfaces are mainly responsible for
increasing of coefficient of friction with increased loads.
The variation of coefficient of friction with time is
shown in Fig. 9. It is quite evident that increase of laser
speed has resulted in lower coefficient of friction.
Further, for a given laser speed, in majority of the cases
there is a very minimal change in the coefficient of
friction, over a period of 30 min. The effect of normal
load on coefficient of friction of the laser built-up parts
is shown in Fig. 10. It is observed that increased load

9 Variation of coefficient of friction with time

10 Variation of coefficient of friction with load

has resulted in lowering of coefficient of friction for the

range of load 10 to 50 N. However for loads .50 N and
up to a steady load of 80 N, there is negligible effect on
coefficient of friction of built-up parts. The initial drastic
reduction in coefficient of friction with increased load
can be attributed to the fact that the increased load leads
to higher extent of plastic deformation resulting in
higher probability of shearing of the asperity junctions.
This destruction of the asperity junction will lead to
lesser extent of asperity interaction, in particular
interlock phenomenon during the sliding motion of
contact pairs leading to the lowering of coefficient
of friction. Figure 11 shows the variation of coefficient
of friction with sliding velocity. It is observed that an
increase in sliding velocity leads to increased coefficient
of friction for the built-up part for a given laser speed.
This can be attributed to the fact that for a given load,
the probability of asperity formation increases with
increased sliding velocity. At higher sliding velocities,
temperature rise of the sliding surfaces is very high
resulting in more plastic deformation of the mating
surfaces leading to more asperity junctions, as a consequence of which coefficient of friction increases.28

Wear
Figure 12 shows the variation of wear rate of built-up
parts at different laser speeds. It is observed that, wear
rate decreases with decreased laser speed. This can be
attributed to the fact that a decrease in laser speed has
resulted in improved hardness and strength of laser
built-up parts. Any improvement in hardness and
strength will lead to improved wear resistance. Also,
the inclusions of hard oxides and nitrides of sintered
iron are responsible for lowering of wear loss of sintered

11 Variation of coefficient of friction with sliding velocity

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12 Variation of wear rate with laser sintering speed

samples. Further, SEM of the worn sintered surfaces as

shown in Fig. 13 clearly indicates larger extent of
damage to the surfaces at higher laser speeds.
Figure 13a indicates the largest extent of damage to
the worn surfaces of the pins sintered at 125 mm s21.
The extent of grooving is larger in the pin sintered at
125 mm s21, while Fig. 13c indicates a very smooth
surface of the worn pins at a laser speed of 50 mm s21,
indicating minimum extent of damage. It is the extent of
damage caused to the surface that dictates the wear
behaviour. This observation supports the experimental
results. It is observed that for an increase in test duration
(sliding distances), the wear rates of all built-up parts
increases as shown in Fig. 14. Furthermore, at all the
test durations (sliding distances) studied, the samples
built at lower laser speeds have lower wear rates.
Samples sintered at 125 and 50 mm s21 exhibited the
highest and least wear rates respectively at all the test
durations studied for a given load and sliding velocity.
The increase in wear rate with increased test duration
can be attributed to the fact that at longer test duration,
the extent of plastic deformation will be high resulting in
the larger material removal leading to higher wear.
Figure 15 shows the variation of wear rate with contact
load. It is observed that initially for up to a load of
40 N, there is a drastic reduction in wear rate. Beyond
40 N, wear rate is steady for majority of the cases for a
studied load up to 80 N. However, at all the loads
studied, samples sintered at 125 and 50 mm s21
exhibited the highest and least wear rates respectively.
The variation of wear rate with different sliding
velocities is shown in Fig. 16. It is observed that up to
a sliding velocity of 2?1 m s21, the wear rate of the laser
built-up parts decreases considerably with increased
sliding velocity. Further, increase in the sliding velocity
up to a maximum velocity of 3?36 m s21, a steady wear
rate is observed for all the built-up parts under different
laser speeds. The reduction in wear rates of the built-up

14 Variation of wear rate with time/sliding distance

15 Variation of wear rate with load

16 Variation of wear rate with sliding velocity

parts with increased sliding velocity can be attributed to

the fact that higher sliding velocities will result in
promoting slightly higher temperature at the interfaces
of mating part which may promote the formation of
oxide films on the mating surfaces. These oxide films in

13 Image (SEM) of worn sintered pins processed at laser speed of a 125 mm s21, b 75 mm s21 and c 50 mm s21

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between the mating surfaces will have a beneficial effect

in retarding the material transfer process during sliding
of the mating parts. Once a stable film is formed, any
further increase in sliding velocity will not affect the
adhesion process, there by unaffecting the material
removal rate from the sliding surfaces resulting in steady
wear rate.

Conclusions
The laser scan speed has a profound influence on
microstructure of the built-up parts. A higher density
and microhardness are observed for laser built-up parts
sintered at lower scan speed. A drastic improvement in
tensile strength and ductility has been observed with the
reduction in laser speed. An increase in coefficient of
friction is observed for parts built at lower laser scan
speed. Lower wear rate has been observed at lower scan
speed due to the presence of oxides and nitrides of iron.

Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Shri. B. R.Satyan, Director,
Central
Manufacturing
Technology
Institute,
Bangalore, India for extending support and encouragement throughout this course of work.

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