A method of forming a component having an internal passage defined therein includes positioning a jacketed core with respect to a mold. The jacketed core includes a hollow structure formed from at least a first material and a second material, and an inner core disposed within the hollow structure. The method also includes introducing a component material in a molten state into a cavity of the mold, and cooling the component material in the cavity to form the component. The inner core defines the internal passage within the component.

Various embodiments include approaches for controlling an additive manufacturing (AM) process. In some cases, an AM system includes: a process chamber for additively manufacturing a component, the process chamber at least partially housing a plurality of distinct melting beam scanners, each of the distinct melting beam scanners configured to emit a melting beam, wherein each of the distinct melting beam scanners is independently physically movable within a corresponding region of the process chamber; and a control system coupled with the plurality of distinct melting beam scanners, the control system configured to control movement of at least one of the plurality of distinct melting beam scanners within the corresponding region based upon a geometry of the component.

The invention relates to the field of the additive manufacturing of components, which are formed by the direct deposition of a substance, in the form of granules of a metal or non-metal, which passes from a reservoir into a melt bath, produced by the thermal energy of a laser or electron beam, and subsequently crystallizes. The granules enter the melt bath without the intervention of a gas stream, the path and rate of travel of said granules changing while they are in flight under the effect of an electromagnetic field. The granules travel within a chamber, falling into the melt bath from above from a reservoir, from which they are fed at a set speed by the rotation of an adjustable screw feed, and passing through a system of electromagnetic devices, which control the path of the granules by means of electromagnetic fields. The coordinates of this path are tracked by sensors, which transmit a signal to a computer, wherein the flight path of the granules is adjusted by control via the electronic devices and the delivery speed and volume of the substance is adjusted by adjusting the rotation of the screw feed. The invention increases the efficiency of the production cycle, reduces the dimensions of the equipment and increases the accuracy and speed with which material is delivered for the manufacture of a component, while enabling adjustment of the amount, temperature, path and fraction of said material and increasing the strength of the component.

A system and method for manufacturing and authenticating an additively manufactured component are provided. The method includes forming a surface around a cross sectional layer and introducing localized surface variations to the surface. The localized surface variations are configured for generating a unique acoustic wave response that defines a component identifier of the component. The method further includes exciting the surface of the component at an excitation region using an excitation source and interrogating the surface at an excitation region of the component at an interrogation region using a vibration sensor. The acoustic wave response may be compared to a stored component identifier in a database for authenticating components.

A system and method for manufacturing and authenticating a component is provided. The method includes forming a component having an identifying region that contains two or more materials having different conductivities such that the identifying region generates an eddy current response signature that defines a component identifier of the component. The method further includes interrogating the identifying region of the surface with an eddy current probe to determine the component identifier. The component identifier may be stored in a database as a reference identifier and may be used for authenticating components.

Methods and systems are provided for using optical interferometry in the context of material modification processes such as surgical laser or welding applications. An imaging optical source that produces imaging light. A feedback controller controls at least one processing parameter of the material modification process based on an interferometry output generated using the imaging light. A method of processing interferograms is provided based on homodyne filtering. A method of generating a record of a material modification process using an interferometry output is provided.

Manufacturing methods are disclosed that can electropolish a metal surface by disposing an electrode over the metal surface, and a permeable dielectric spacer between the metal surface and the electrode. An electrolyte is infiltrated into the permeable dielectric spacer, and an electrical voltage differential is applied to the electrode and the metal surface.

A method for additively manufacturing an object from a metal powder is disclosed. The method includes distributing a first stratum of the metal powder in a powder-bed volume at least partially delimited by a build platform. The method further includes melting a first selected portion of the first stratum of the metal powder in a powder-bed volume by exposing the first selected portion of the first stratum of the metal powder to electromagnetic energy from an electromagnetic energy source while moving the electromagnetic energy source along a first predetermined path in a polar coordinate system to form at least a portion of a first layer of the object. The electromagnetic energy source is movable in a linear travel path along a linear rail and the linear rail is one of rotatable or revolvable in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis A.

A hybrid article is disclosed including a sintered coating disposed on and circumscribing the lateral surface of a core having a core material and a greater density than the sintered coating. The sintered coating includes more than about 95% up to about 99.5% of a first metallic particulate material including a first melting point, and from about 0.5% up to about 5% of a second metallic particulate material having a second melting point lower than the first melting point. A method for forming the hybrid article is disclosed including disposing the core in a die, introducing a slurry having the metallic particulate materials into a gap between the lateral surface and the die, and sintering the slurry. A method for welding a workpiece is disclosed including the hybrid article serving as a weld filler.

The present disclosure generally relates to additive manufacturing systems and methods on a large-scale format. One aspect involves a build unit that can be moved around in three dimensions by a positioning system, building separate portions of a large object. The build unit has an energy directing device that directs, e.g., laser or e-beam irradiation onto a powder layer. In the case of laser irradiation, the build volume may have a gasflow device that provides laminar gas flow to a laminar flow zone above the layer of powder. This allows for efficient removal of the smoke, condensates, and other impurities produced by irradiating the powder (the gas plume) without excessively disturbing the powder layer. The build unit may also have a recoater that allows it to selectively deposit particular quantities of powder in specific locations over a work surface to build large, high quality, high precision objects.