Post-Processing Techniques for Metal Additively Manufactured Thin-Walled Structures

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers greater advantages in building intricate geometry and customised functional parts with flexible designs. However, the inferior quality of as-built AM parts is one obstacle that fails to meet the functional industry requirements. To overcome the inferior quality, as-built AM components, including thin-walled structures, must undergo one or more forms of post-processing treatments. The post-processing is an essential step in the AM process that ensures the AM part quality meets the necessary specifications of industrial standards. Hot-isostatic pressing, shot peening, chemical and electrochemical polishing, continuous wave laser hardening, etc., are the popular mainstream and advanced post-processing techniques applied to improve the final part quality of complex as-built AM parts. The industrially recognised HIPing helps to increase the part density while reducing the number of porosities and refining the microstructure. The chemical surface finishing and similar treatments are applied to enhance the final part quality of complex as-built AM parts, like thin-walled structures. Shot peening, mechanical polishing, and hybrid methods are used to significantly improve the surface quality of as-built AM parts. Overall, the mainstream and advanced post-processing treatments help to improve the dimensional tolerance and the holistic final part quality of as-built AM parts.