Detecting defects during powder deposition in additive manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing applications, in areas such as aerospace and medicine, are limited due to the lack of process stability and quality management. In particular, geometrical inaccuracies and the presence of mechanical defects hinder repeatability of the process. To break into industries with very high quality standards, an important issue to be addressed is in-situ quality control during a build. The work which will be presented here is focused on image based process monitoring of the powder bed after the deposition of a new powder layer. We will also discuss the effects these might have on consolidating the powder with the rest of the part. Preliminary results will be shown of defects identified after a new powder layer has been deposited.