Influence of process gas during powder bed fusion with laser beam of Zr-based bulk metallic glasses

Zr-based bulk metallic glasses offer a unique combination of hardness, high strength, and high elastic limits. Yet, manufacturable size and complexity are limited due to the required cooling rates. Short laser-material interaction times together with layer-wise and selective energy input allows the laser powder bed fusion process to largely overcome those restrictions. Still, the complex process-material interactions inhere numerous uncertainties. In the present work, additively manufactured Zr-based bulk metallic glasses produced under three different process gases are investigated by calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, and bending tests. A strong dependence between the thermophysical properties, flexural strength, and the applied atmosphere is found.