A method and an apparatus for collecting a powdered material after a print job in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing may involve a build platform supporting a powder bed capable of tilting, inverting, and shaking to separate the powder bed substantially from the build platform in a hopper. The powdered material may be collected in a hopper for reuse in later print jobs. The powder collecting process may be automated to increase efficiency of powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.

The present disclosure provides three-dimensional (3D) printing methods, apparatuses, systems and/or software to form one or more complex three-dimensional objects. The three-dimensional object may be formed by three-dimensional printing one or more methodologies. The three-dimensional object may comprise an overhang portion and/or cavity ceiling with diminished deformation and/or auxiliary support structures.

An alignment tool for a laser machine tool includes a frame that is mountable to the laser cutting head of the laser machine tool; a first indicator mounted to the frame along an X-axis; a second indicator mounted to the frame along a Y-axis; a position device mounted to the frame, the position device operable to reference upon a surface of the laser cutting head to align the first indicator along an X-axis of the laser cutting head, and to align the second indicator along a Y-axis of the laser cutting head; and a fastener mounted to the frame, the fastener operable to retain the frame to the laser cutting head.

The present disclosure generally relates to methods of additive manufacturing with control of the energy beam incidence angle that allows for aligning the laser beam angle to directly oppose the building direction of an angled wall. The method includes building an object in an additive manufacturing powder bed where the object includes a surface that is defined by a build vector projecting outward relative to the build plate center at an angle relative to normal of the build plate such that 90>>0 and the directed energy beam forms an angle .sub.L2 relative to normal of the build plate such that 270>.sub.L2>180, wherein .sub.L2=180, and <45. The present methods provide finished objects having overhanging regions with more consistent surface finish and resistance to mechanical strain or stress.

A computer-implemented method of generating scan instructions for forming a product using additive layer manufacture as a series of layers is provided. The method comprises determining a beam acceleration voltage to be used when forming the product; for each hatch area of layers of the product, determining a respective beam current to be used when forming the hatch area and providing a respective beam current value to the hatch area description in the scan pattern instruction file; and for each line of each hatch area, determining a respective beam spot size to be used when scanning the beam along the line and providing a respective beam spot size value to the line description in the scan pattern instruction file, and determining a respective series of beam step sizes and beam step dwell times to be used when scanning the beam along the line, and providing a respective series of beam position values and beam step dwell times to the line description in the scan pattern instruction file thereby defining how the beam is to be scanned along the line. Also provided are a file of scan instructions, an additive layer manufacture apparatus, and a method of forming a product using the additive layer manufacturing apparatus.

The invention relates to a method for regulating the operation of an electromechanical apparatus (1), for example an EBM apparatus, in order to obtain certified processed products, wherein it is provided an initial calibration step that is intended to check the proper functioning of all the component parts of the apparatus (1) structured to ensure the complete functionality and a subsequent quality control step carried out on the obtained products by the carried out working process. The method entails the following steps: defining a plurality of measurement parameters relating to the component parts of the apparatus; measuring at least some of said parameters by means of sensors and/or measurement indicators related to said parameters during at least one processing phase performed by the apparatus; performing a quality control step on the obtained products after the working process obtaining data on any deviation from the expected quality; comparing the detected measurements of said parameters and data on any deviation from the expected quality with corresponding values of reference parameters available for that specific apparatus and for those products; detecting any deviations in one or more of said parameters or said data with respect to the values of the reference parameters; computing, on the basis of such differences, a total correction and regulation value; applying said total correction and regulation value preferably to only one of said parameters prior to the subsequent process, for example to the generation energy of the electrons beam (3). Basically, the method of the present invention allows obtaining semi-finished products free from structural defects by means of a primary check of the correct functioning of the various component parts of the apparatus (calibration procedure), a secondary check of the operational effectiveness of the process itself (operational qualification procedure) and a further final check of the process stability and repeatability within a process window (performance qualification).

To provide a three-dimensional printing device that irradiates approximately the same ranges on the surface of a powder layer simultaneously with a plurality of electron beams having different beam shapes. An electron beam column 200 of the three-dimensional printing device 100 includes a plurality of electron sources 20 including electron sources having anisotropically-shaped beam generating units, and beam shape deforming elements 30 that deform the beam shapes of electron beams output from the electron sources 20 on a surface 63 of a powder layer 62. A deflector 50 included in the electron beam column 200 deflects an electron beam output from each of the plurality of electron sources 20 by a distance larger than the beam space between electron beams before passing through the deflector 50.

A method and an apparatus pertaining to recycling and reuse of unwanted light in additive manufacturing can multiplex multiple beams of light including at least one or more beams of light from one or more light sources. The multiple beams of light may be reshaped and blended to provide a first beam of light. A spatial polarization pattern may be applied on the first beam of light to provide a second beam of light. Polarization states of the second beam of light may be split to reflect a third beam of light, which may be reshaped into a fourth beam of light. The fourth beam of light may be introduced as one of the multiple beams of light to result in a fifth beam of light.

An automated welding apparatus and computer-implemented method are described which generally perform the steps of: scanning a joint interface of a workpiece using a three-dimensional scanner (S4); determining a volume to be filled by a welding process (S6); determining a specification for the welding process based on the volume to be filled using an algorithm (S8, S10); and controlling a welding device so as to execute the specification by moving the welding device relative to the workpiece (S12).

A system and method for monitoring and controlling build quality during electron beam manufacturing of a build part. The system may include at least one electron beam source to direct at least one electron beam onto a plurality of deposited layers of metallic powder to form a melt pool, a detector to detect in real-time backscattered energy ejected from the melt pool and indicative of a defect in the build part and generate a detection signal representative of the defect. A controller receives and analyzes the detection signal and generates a corrective signal for control of at least one of the actuator and the at least one electron beam source to direct the at least one electron beam onto the plurality of deposited layers of metallic powder to sequentially consolidate patterned portions of the plurality of deposited metallic powder layers to adaptively form the three-dimensional build part.