In this article, we propose to investigate the fusion process for powder bed laser melting.

First, we describe the powder bed laser melting process and briefly describe some related research projects at Arts et Métiers.

Then, the article present the process itself with and the devices used for part manufacturing. Then, we present the methodology for the process parameter search. Particularly, the powder grain size distribution is considered its compactness during the process.

The last part of the article is dedicated to the analysis of the process itself by focusing our attention on the physical phenomena involved during the formation of the melt pool.

The process is analyzed through experiments and analysis of high speed videos. Finally, a scheme of the fusion of the powder layer is proposed

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