A method of calibrating a laser of an additive manufacturing system involves processing a test pattern with the laser while varying one or more of laser power and/or scan speed. Thermal energy emitted from the resulting meltpool is measured while processing the test pattern. The power of the laser is calculated using a relationship between volumetric energy density and the thermal emissions, and the laser power is adjusted based on the calculated laser power. An additive manufacturing system for performing such a method may include a laser, a thermal sensor configured to measure meltpool thermal emissions, a processor configured to calculate a laser power based on the measured meltpool thermal emissions of the test pattern, and a controller configured to adjust the laser power based on the calculated laser power.

A method of calibrating a laser of an additive manufacturing system involves processing a test pattern with the laser while varying one or more of laser power and/or scan speed. Thermal energy emitted from the resulting meltpool is measured while processing the test pattern. The power of the laser is calculated using a relationship between volumetric energy density and the thermal emissions, and the laser power is adjusted based on the calculated laser power. An additive manufacturing system for performing such a method may include a laser, a thermal sensor configured to measure meltpool thermal emissions, a processor configured to calculate a laser power based on the measured meltpool thermal emissions of the test pattern, and a controller configured to adjust the laser power based on the calculated laser power.

A method of calibrating a laser of an additive manufacturing system involves processing a test pattern with the laser while varying one or more of laser power and/or scan speed. Thermal energy emitted from the resulting meltpool is measured while processing the test pattern. The power of the laser is calculated using a relationship between volumetric energy density and the thermal emissions, and the laser power is adjusted based on the calculated laser power. An additive manufacturing system for performing such a method may include a laser, a thermal sensor configured to measure meltpool thermal emissions, a processor configured to calculate a laser power based on the measured meltpool thermal emissions of the test pattern, and a controller configured to adjust the laser power based on the calculated laser power.

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning a 3D printed article, in particular a 3D printed heat exchanger. After 3D printing, an article may have internal passages formed from bonded powder and said passages may contain unbonded powder that needs to be removed before further use of/processing of the article. To remove this unbonded powder, the article is filled with a cleaning fluid and vibrated. The cleaning fluid is then pumped out of the article and past a sensor that generates a magnetic field. The sensor detects the presence of powder particles in the fluid by detecting a perturbation of the magnetic field caused by said particles. The fluid is then filtered and returned to a reservoir for use. The sensor may indicate the article is sufficiently clean when a detected concentration of particles in the fluid drops below a threshold.

Provided is a method for monitoring 3D printing equipped with a 3D printing slicer and a recursive loop structure. A 3D printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention sets up a slicing environment for 3D printing of a 3D model, generates a mechanical code by performing slicing according to the setup environment, monitors the status of the 3D printing according to the generated mechanical code, and, depending on the monitoring result, determines whether or not to re-perform the setup and subsequent steps. Accordingly, by semi- or fully automating the 3D printing engineering process, the time and effort for engineering performance involving human participation are reduced, and the human resource is concentrated on a more important area, such that the effects of enhancing the 3D printing output quality and assuring the quality can be expected.

The present disclosure provides three-dimensional (3D) printing processes, apparatuses, software, and systems for the production of at least one desired 3D object. The 3D printer system (e.g., comprising a processing chamber, build module, or an unpacking station) described herein may retain a desired (e.g., inert) atmosphere around the material bed and/or 3D object at multiple 3D printing stages. The 3D printer described herein comprises one or more build modules that may have a controller separate from the controller of the processing chamber. The 3D printer described herein comprises a platform that may be automatically constructed. The invention(s) described herein may allow the 3D printing process to occur for a long time without operator intervention and/or down time.

An additive manufacturing system may include an irradiation device configured to emit an energy beam having a manufacturing power level selected to additively manufacturing a three-dimensional object by irradiating a powder material, and a controller configured to perform one or more beam alignment operations when irradiating the powder material. The irradiation device may include a beam source, one or more beam positioning elements, a beam splitter configured to split a measurement beam from the energy beam, and one or more beam sensors configured to determine one or more parameters of the measurement beam. The one or more beam alignment operations may include determining position information of the energy beam based on the one or more parameters of the measurement beam, and aligning the energy beam with an optical axis of the irradiation device by adjusting a position of the one or more beam positioning elements based on the position information.

An additive manufacturing system may include an irradiation device configured to emit an energy beam having a manufacturing power level selected to additively manufacturing a three-dimensional object by irradiating a powder material, and a controller configured to perform one or more beam alignment operations when irradiating the powder material. The irradiation device may include a beam source, one or more beam positioning elements, a beam splitter configured to split a measurement beam from the energy beam, and one or more beam sensors configured to determine one or more parameters of the measurement beam. The one or more beam alignment operations may include determining position information of the energy beam based on the one or more parameters of the measurement beam, and aligning the energy beam with an optical axis of the irradiation device by adjusting a position of the one or more beam positioning elements based on the position information.

A method of processing by controlling one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam may include: launching the optical beam into a first length of fiber having a first refractive-index profile (RIP); coupling the optical beam from the first length of fiber into a second length of fiber having a second RIP and one or more confinement regions; modifying the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam in the first length of fiber, in the second length of fiber, or in the first and second lengths of fiber; confining the modified one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam within the one or more confinement regions of the second length of fiber; and/or generating an output beam, having the modified one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam, from the second length of fiber. The first RIP may differ from the second RIP.

Calibration systems, additive manufacturing systems employing the same, and methods of calibrating include a plurality of electron beam guns. One calibration system includes an imaging device positioned to capture one or more images of an impingement of electron beams emitted from the plurality of electron beam guns on a surface within a build chamber of the electron beam additive manufacturing system and an analysis component communicatively coupled to the imaging device. The analysis component is programmed to receive image data corresponding to the one or more images, determine one or more calibration parameters from the image data, and transmit one or more instructions to the plurality of electron beam guns in accordance with the one or more calibration parameters.