A method for the additive construction of a structure for a component includes the following steps: providing a prefabricated component for the component on a building board, wherein the component has a separating plane, providing a powder bed from a base material for the structure, moving the building board closer to a coating device, aligning a processing surface and the separating plane of the component for preventing adhesion between the component and the coating device, and optically measuring a surface of the powder bed.

The biocompatible lattice structures and implants disclosed herein have an increased or optimized lucency, even when constructed from a metallic material. The lattice structures can also provide an increased or optimized lucency in a material that is not generally considered to be radiolucent. Lucency can include disparity, maximum variation in lucency properties across a structure, or dispersion, minimum variation in lucency properties across a structure. The implants and lattice structures disclosed herein may be optimized for disparity or dispersion in any desired direction. A desired direction with respect to lucency can include the anticipated x-ray viewing direction of an implant in the expected implantation orientation.

In some examples, a method comprises obtaining, by an additive manufacturing device, a file compatible with the additive manufacturing device, the file comprising representations of objects and a support structure for the objects, the representation of the support structure having an identifier for identifying the support structure; and the additive manufacturing device using an additive manufacturing process and the file to manufacture the objects, the support structure, and the identifier for identifying the support structure.

In some examples, a method comprises obtaining, by an additive manufacturing device, a file compatible with the additive manufacturing device, the file comprising representations of objects and a support structure for the objects, the representation of the support structure having an identifier for identifying the support structure; and the additive manufacturing device using an additive manufacturing process and the file to manufacture the objects, the support structure, and the identifier for identifying the support structure.

To identify and/or assess structural integrity of a composite material comprising fiduciary markers which attenuate x-rays to an extent greater than the rest of the material, a method is provided wherein x-ray 3D tomosynthesis images of the composite material are created using an array of x-ray emitters and a digital x-ray detector wherein the array of x-ray emitters and the digital x-ray detector are maintained in fixed relation to one another and to the composite material, the 3D tomosynthesis images being used to determine the relative location of at least some of the fiduciary markers with respect to one another; a database is provided for storing the relative location of at least some of the fiduciary markers with respect to one another, further x-ray 3D tomosynthesis images of the same, or a different, composite material may be checked against the data in the database to ascertain structural integrity and/or identity of the material.

To identify and/or assess structural integrity of a composite material comprising fiduciary markers which attenuate x-rays to an extent greater than the rest of the material, a method is provided wherein x-ray 3D tomosynthesis images of the composite material are created using an array of x-ray emitters and a digital x-ray detector wherein the array of x-ray emitters and the digital x-ray detector are maintained in fixed relation to one another and to the composite material, the 3D tomosynthesis images being used to determine the relative location of at least some of the fiduciary markers with respect to one another; a database is provided for storing the relative location of at least some of the fiduciary markers with respect to one another, further x-ray 3D tomosynthesis images of the same, or a different, composite material may be checked against the data in the database to ascertain structural integrity and/or identity of the material.

A system for additive metal manufacturing, including a deposition mechanism, a translation mechanism mounting the deposition mechanism to the working volume, and a stage. A method for additive metal manufacturing including: selectively depositing a material carrier within the working volume; removing an additive from the material carrier; and treating the resultant material.

Method for controlling operating of at least one additive manufacturing apparatus (1) for additively manufacturing of three-dimensional objects is provided by means of successive layerwise selective irradiation and consolidation of layers of a powdered build material which can be consolidated by means of an energy beam, embodiments including exemplary steps of: supplying authorization data (AD) which contains at least one authorization parameter that authorizes the operation of at least one additive manufacturing apparatus (1) or at least one functional unit (2-7) of the at least one additive manufacturing apparatus (1) from an external data supply source (10), transmitting the authorization data (AD) from the external data supply source (10) to a control unit (8) of the at least one additive manufacturing apparatus (1), and controlling operation of the additive manufacturing apparatus (1) or the at least one functional unit (2-7).

An apparatus includes a control system that defines a test part having multiple features of multiple feature types. The control system controls an additive manufacturing (AM) machine to print multiple copies of the test part, with each copy being printed according to a respective set of values used as printing parameters. A measurement system obtains a computed tomography (CT) image of each of the copies of the test part. An analysis system, for each of the plurality of feature types, analyzes the CT images to identify a selected set of values for the printing parameters. The analysis system identifies a portion of the CT image related to a first feature and assesses its density based on an average grayscale value. The AM machine is then controlled to print production parts according to, for each feature type of the production parts, the selected set of values for the printing parameters.

A method of additive manufacture is disclosed. The method may include creating, by a 3D printer contained within an enclosure, a part having a weight greater than or equal to 2,000 kilograms. A gas management system may maintain gaseous oxygen within the enclosure atmospheric level. In some embodiments, a wheeled vehicle may transport the part from inside the enclosure, through an airlock, as the airlock operates to buffer between a gaseous environment within the enclosure and a gaseous environment outside the enclosure, and to a location exterior to both the enclosure and the airlock.