Abstract

Metal laser additive manufacturing (LAM) provides unique possibilities for the fabrication of complex parts in many key industrial areas such as aerospace, automotive, and healthcare. However, due to variations in part geometry, local environment, and the inherent stochasticity of the laser melting process, reproducibility in final part morphology and characteristics is a major concern. In this paper, we demonstrate that optics-based morphology and temperature measurements on time scales sufficient to measure melt pool dynamics provide direct monitoring of the build process, allowing for on-the-fly defect detection.

© 2017 IEEE