Intelligent Monitoring System (IMS) for Powder Bed Fusion Process
Key Information
AM Tech
Array Industry
Array Potential Applications
- Ideal for operators of powder bed fusion additive manufacturing systems (e.g., service bureaus, equipment owners)
- Will serve as the basis for standardisation and certification of AM products.
Collaborators
SC3DP (NTU) X ASTM Problem Statement
- Inconsistencies in quality of built parts is preventing the widespread adoption of PBF, especially in industries where product certification is crucial.
- Current non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods are not optimised for AM processes.
- Determination of optimum process parameters is mainly empirical and varied by different users without a consensus benchmark.
- Current available monitoring systems are mainly developed for a particular process defect and merely used for observation purposes.
Objective
- To provide a multi-control approach for in-situ observation of a range of process defects in PBF process.
- To establish the relationships between defect signatures with a quality-control metric of the fabricated products.
Key Benefits/Outcomes
- Improved print consistency, part quality and reliability.
- Reduced wastage in materials and time invested by providing real-time feedback on the quality of the part being fabricated.
- Increase efficiency in manufacturing process, and greater acceptance of PBF parts in industries such as aerospace, automotive and medical
- Generated 2 publications, 1 technical disclosure and 1 patent