Efficient Process Development for Laser Powder Bed Fusion of a Soft‐Magnetic Metallic Glass Composite

Additive manufacturing of iron‐based metallic glass alloys enables the creation of customized soft‐magnetic components with unprecedented geometrical freedom. This work presents an efficient workflow for developing parameters for laser‐based powder bed fusion (PBF‐LB) of the Fe–Si–B–Cr–C metallic glass alloy Kuamet 6B2. The development focuses on combining checkerboard and double‐exposure printing to achieve low magnetic coercivity, high amorphous content, high relative density, and low residual stress. The workflow includes single‐tracks and melt‐pool imaging with Kerr microscopy to guide the selection of second‐exposure parameters. Samples are analyzed using X‐ray diffraction, magnetometry, magneto‐optical imaging, and electron backscatter diffraction. Using the optimized protocol, a ring‐shaped core with a diameter of 5 cm was produced and used for permeability testing. The relative permeability was 40 at 100 Hz due to crystalline grains up to a few microns in size. The size of the crystalline grains needs to be reduced for better soft‐magnetic properties. Designing novel Fe‐based soft‐magnetic metallic glass alloys for PBF‐LB manufacturing, with excellent soft‐magnetic properties, is an important future research direction.