A method for non-destructive evaluation of a manufacturing process when forming a three-dimensional article through successive fusion of parts of a metal powder bed, which parts corresponds to successive cross sections of the three-dimensional article, the method comprising the steps of collecting an X-ray signal, created by the electron beam, from at least one position of the first and/or second metal powder layer and/or a melt pool of the first and/or second metal powder layer and/or a fused first and/or second powder layer by an X-ray detector, comparing the X-ray signal with a reference signal, alarming if the generated X-ray signal compared to the reference signal is indicating contamination material of larger amount than a predetermined value and/or a deviation in Atomic % of the powder material larger than a predetermined value.

An apparatus and a method of detection of the presence of coinage metals such as gold, silver and copper, as well as platinum group metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum and the specific composition of alloys of aforementioned coinage and platinum group metals, especially alloys used in industry and jewelry production, both as macroscopic objects and in coatings are disclosed. The disclosed method is based on the use of surface enhanced physical and chemical phenomena that lead to the development of significant and measurable change in specific characteristics of a chemical compound when it is applied onto the surface of a metal alloy of the said coinage and platinum group metals. Effectively, the disclosed method may be described as the inversion of the traditionally used modality in which an unknown compound is applied onto the surface of a metal (or alloy of metals) of known composition, usually, chemically pure metal. In this inverted modality, the disclosed method is also applicable to testing of certain dielectric compounds.

One example of the disclosed method is the use of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in which a solution, film or particles of a chemical compound with known SERS signature is applied on the surface of the material to be analyzed and a SERS spectrum is captured and processed with the use of a computing device. The resulting Raman spectrum is compared with the Raman spectrum of the compound in its bulk or unapplied form and presents with a specific degree of enhancement as well as changes in relative magnitude and position of the characteristic peaks due to surface interactions between the components of the analyte (gold, silver, copper, platinum group metals and other elements) with the functional groups of the applied chemical compound. Another aspect of the disclosed method is the set of characteristics that are utilized in choosing the reagent to be used in the SERS setup: the reagent compound is chosen to assure that enhancement and shifting of the peaks of the Raman spectrum depends on the presence and relative amounts of gold, silver, copper and platinum group metals in the alloy, and the intensities and relative position of the peaks correspond to the specific amounts of said metals in the alloy. Additionally, supplemental methods of enhancement of signal may be employed such as electrochemical enhancement of surface phenomena, resonance Raman and other plasmonic and quantum mechanical effects aiming to improve both strength of the signal and its specificity. Additionally, transfer of energy to the surface of the analyzed alloy as to increase the intensity of the signal may

Provided is an evaluation method for obtaining steel with stable quality.

The steel evaluation method includes: a process of measuring a surface of steel with an electron probe micro analyzer to obtain mapping data of a base composition; a process of obtaining mapping data of an Ms temperature from the mapping data of the base composition; a process of binarizing the mapping data of the Ms temperature; a process of obtaining a first main component and a second main component by main component analysis of the mapping data of the Ms temperature which has been subjected to the binarization processing; and a process of evaluating dimensional change characteristics of the steel on the basis of a relationship between the first main component and the second main component.

Provided is an evaluation method for obtaining steel with stable quality.

The steel evaluation method includes: a process of measuring a surface of steel with an electron probe micro analyzer to obtain mapping data of a base composition; a process of obtaining mapping data of an Ms temperature from the mapping data of the base composition; a process of binarizing the mapping data of the Ms temperature; a process of obtaining a first main component and a second main component by main component analysis of the mapping data of the Ms temperature which has been subjected to the binarization processing; and a process of evaluating dimensional change characteristics of the steel on the basis of a relationship between the first main component and the second main component.

A method for characterization of metallic powder including presenting a metallic powder sample to a laser and detector system, wherein the metallic powder sample passes through the laser and detector system via a sample introducer; applying a pulsed laser beam to a first location in the metallic powder sample to provide a first micro-plasma at the first location in the metallic powder sample when the pulsed laser beam terminates, the micro-plasma cools to provide spectral emissions at the first location; collecting the spectral emissions at the first location in the metallic powder sample with a detector; analyzing the spectral emissions at the first location to provide a spectral analysis dataset; and identifying inclusions at the first location in the metallic powder sample.

A method for characterization of metallic powder including presenting a metallic powder sample to a laser and detector system, wherein the metallic powder sample passes through the laser and detector system via a sample introducer; applying a pulsed laser beam to a first location in the metallic powder sample to provide a first micro-plasma at the first location in the metallic powder sample when the pulsed laser beam terminates, the micro-plasma cools to provide spectral emissions at the first location; collecting the spectral emissions at the first location in the metallic powder sample with a detector; analyzing the spectral emissions at the first location to provide a spectral analysis dataset; and identifying inclusions at the first location in the metallic powder sample.

A method of measuring content of a first chemical element in a coating comprising the first element applied on a substrate also comprising the first element, the content of said the element being determined by measuring the ratio of the content of a second chemical element over the content of the first element in the coating and the ratio of the content of the second element over the content of the first element in the substrate, whereby the content of the first element both in the coating and in the substrate is different than the content of the second element both in the coating and in the substrate and the ratio of the content of a second element over the content of the first element in the coating is different from the ratio of the content of the second element over the content of the first element in the substrate.

Provided is a system to measure the percentage of copper concentrate in the melting stage in-line and in real-time, it consists of at least four (1) electrodes inserted aligned through the refractory wall (2) of a smelting furnace, so that one end of each of the electrodes (1) remains on the outside of the furnace and the other end is inserted in the middle where the reaction occurs; i.e., inserted into the smelting bath, with these electrodes (1) connected to a signal amplifier which in turn is connected to signal generator, in which said power generator sends a replicated signal from the signal generator, sending the current-increased signals for charges with resistances of less than 0.1 ohm, and with bandwidths of 3 MHz, in which the power amplification sends the power signal to the electrodes (1) at the ends of the alignment so that the electrodes (1) that remain in the center receive the resistivity reading once the signal has been sent.

Provided is a system to measure the percentage of copper concentrate in the melting stage in-line and in real-time, it consists of at least four (1) electrodes inserted aligned through the refractory wall (2) of a smelting furnace, so that one end of each of the electrodes (1) remains on the outside of the furnace and the other end is inserted in the middle where the reaction occurs; i.e., inserted into the smelting bath, with these electrodes (1) connected to a signal amplifier which in turn is connected to signal generator, in which said power generator sends a replicated signal from the signal generator, sending the current-increased signals for charges with resistances of less than 0.1 ohm, and with bandwidths of 3 MHz, in which the power amplification sends the power signal to the electrodes (1) at the ends of the alignment so that the electrodes (1) that remain in the center receive the resistivity reading once the signal has been sent.

A device for determining the chemical composition of a liquid metallurgical product emitting electromagnetic radiations. The device including a collection probe configured to acquire the electromagnetic radiations emitted by the metallurgical product in a predetermined wavelength range , a spectroscopic device connected to the collection probe and configured to generate a spectral signal of the acquired electromagnetic radiations and processing means including a database of reference radiances. A method using the device is also provided.