A process is provided for manufacturing a part or parts. This manufacturing process includes receiving a plurality of metal materials. The manufacturing process also includes solidifying the metal materials together using an additive manufacturing system to form at least a portion of the part, which comprises an alloy of the metal materials.

A three-dimensional shaping method utilizing a powder layer forming step, and a sintering step with a laser beam or electron beam, the method including the steps of a) measuring the reflection intensity of the beam irradiated in each sintering step, or the reflection intensity of other light, b) commanding to continue sintering within the next time unit, or when the next powder layer forming step is given, when it has been detected that the reflection intensity of the step a) is within a standard range for a given time unit, and, c) judging that a sintering defect has been produced, and commanding to cancel sintering in the next time unit, or when the next powder layer forming step is given, when it is detected that a condition has occurred in which the reflection intensity of step a) deviates from the standard range for a given time unit.

A process is disclosed for restructuring crystalline grain structure and grain size of a material to produce an ultrafine-grain structure. An electron beam source is configured in relation to specific properties of a material forming a solid body to selectively irradiate a surface and a subsurface of that body with electrons at desired locations on the body and to create at least one selectively localized molten pool of defined size in the body. Heat is generated sufficiently rapidly by the beam source to create thermal gradients of sufficient magnitude to permit the body outside of the pool to act as a heat sink and rapidly cool the at least one molten pool, whereby an ultrafine-grain structure and grain size is produced by freezing grain growth upon occurrence of crystal nucleation.

Provided is a titanium cast product for hot rolling made of commercial pure titanium or a titanium alloy, the titanium cast product including, in a surface serving as a rolling surface, a fine structure layer that is formed of an acicular structure formed in the outermost surface by melting and re-solidification treatment and that has a thickness of more than or equal to 5 mm and less than 9 mm in depth. In the titanium cast product for hot rolling according to the present invention, the surface is flat, the number of minute voids in the interior immediately below the surface is small, and the outermost surface has a significantly fine structure. When the titanium cast product is subjected to hot rolling, the occurrence of concavities on the surface in the early stage of hot rolling and the occurrence of surface defects on the hot rolled sheet can be stably prevented at a practical level.

Provided is a titanium cast product for hot rolling made of commercial pure titanium or a titanium alloy, the titanium cast product including, in a surface serving as a rolling surface, a fine structure layer that is formed of an acicular structure formed in the outermost surface by melting and re-solidification treatment and that has a thickness of more than or equal to 5 mm and less than 9 mm in depth. In the titanium cast product for hot rolling according to the present invention, the surface is flat, the number of minute voids in the interior immediately below the surface is small, and the outermost surface has a significantly fine structure. When the titanium cast product is subjected to hot rolling, the occurrence of concavities on the surface in the early stage of hot rolling and the occurrence of surface defects on the hot rolled sheet can be stably prevented at a practical level.

A particulate for an additive manufacturing technique includes a particulate body formed from a particulate material and a coating disposed over particulate body. The coating includes a carbonaceous material that has a reflectivity that is lower than a reflectivity of the particulate material to reduce an energy input requirement of the particulate such that less energy is necessary to fuse the particulate into a layer of an article fabricated using the additive manufacturing technique. A method of making particulate is also disclosed.

An additive manufacturing system includes an ultrasonic inspection system integrated in such a way as to minimize time needed for an inspection process. The inspection system may have an ultrasonic phased array integrated into a build table for detecting defects in each successive slice of a workpiece and such that each slice may be re-melted if and when defects are detected.

A thin-skin side-stay beam may include an upper arm with thin skin and a mating flange extending longitudinally from the thin skin. A lower arm may also have a thin skin and a mating flange extending longitudinally from the lower arm. A joint may include a pin and/or a bushing extending through the mating flanges to pivotally couple the upper arm to the lower arm. The upper arm and/or the lower arm may include one or more internal walls defining one or more internal cavities.

This invention can maintain the temperature of the shaping plane in a three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaping apparatus. A three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaping apparatus includes a material spreader that spreads the material or materials of a three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaped object onto the shaping plane on which the three-dimensional layer-by-layer shaped object is to be shaped; an electron gun that generates an electron beam; at least one deflector that deflects the electron beam so that it scans the shaping plane one- or two-dimensionally; at least one lens that is positioned between the electron gun and the deflector, and focuses the electron beam; a focus controller that controls the focus of the electron beam based on which region is to be scanned by the electron beam; and a controller that controls the deflecting direction of the deflector and the scanning rate.

A part includes a three-dimensional porous metallic workpiece printed via an additive manufacturing process and subsequently subjected to a diffusion-based process to convert at least a portion of the porous metallic workpiece to a ceramic workpiece or an intermetallic workpiece.