금속 3D 프린팅 시스템 구축을 위한 2 kW 급 레이저헤드광학설계

Metal 3D-printing technology enables the manufacture of complex features or internal structures, which is not possible in fabrication by conventional cutting methods. The most successful types of metal 3D printing have been powder bed diffusion and directed energy deposition, which use laser heads exploiting high-power laser sintering metal powder. In this study, a cost-effective optical design was proposed for a 2-kW-level fiber laser head. Only two commercial lenses, a beamsplitter and a window, are used in the laser head, satisfying the technological requirements. According to the optical design, the spot size was 2.54 mm, and the stand-off distance from the laser head was 295 mm. The intensity distribution was Gaussian. Thus, smooth power sintering was possible without any laser spot marks. Monte Carlo analysis was employed to verify the consistency of the optical performance under conventional assembly tolerance.