A. Abel
J. Pufal
V. Rymanov
C. Hoff
J. Hermsdorf
S. Maklouf
J. Lackmann
A. Stöhr
S. Kaierle

Investigation of Kovar in PBF-LB/M

Conference on Lasers in Manufacturing (LiM)
21.-24. Juni
online
2021
Type: Konferenzbeitrag
Abstract
The iron-nickel-cobalt alloy Kovar is highly desirable in glass-to-metal hybrid components, e.g., hermetic seals, or as packaging material in high-frequency microsystems due to its thermal expansion coefficient similar to borosilicate glass. Hitherto, the processability of Kovar in additive manufacturing has only been insufficiently investigated, leaving the potential of this material for functional integrated components unused. This paper describes the processing in PBF-LB/M and the understanding of the process parameters to achieve a relative density over 99.9 \% in test specimens, large volumes, and complex structures. The investigated factors were laser power, scanning speed, and hatch distance. The initial experiments were done as full factorial designs. Subsequent investigations were done within the design of experiments to develop an empirical process model for the fabrication of Kovar in the PBF-LB/M. The best results were fabricated with volumetric energy densities between 200 to 350 to achieve a maximum density of 99.96 \%.