Dimensional Analysis in Selective Laser Melting

This paper aims to use dimensional analysis technique for evaluating the properties of laser sintered components manufactured with Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process from metallic powders. The complexity of SLM does not allow to define an exhaustive mathematical model which involves all governing parameters and, therefore, the dimensional analysis might be a powerful tool for the expression of output parameters as function of dimensionless numbers appropriately defined from the input parameters set. As an example of the developed procedure, the paper explains the construction of a response function for the expression of relative density.