Some variations provide an aluminum alloy feedstock for additive manufacturing, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprising from 79.8 wt % to 88.3 wt % aluminum; from 1.1 wt % to 2.1 wt % copper; from 3.0 wt % to 4.6 wt % magnesium; from 7.1 wt % to 9.0 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium as a grain-refiner element. The aluminum alloy feedstock may be in the form of an ingot powder. In some variations, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprises from 81.3 wt % to about 87.8 wt % aluminum; from 1.2 wt % to 2.0 wt % copper; from 3.2 wt % to 4.4 wt % magnesium; from 7.3 wt % to 8.7 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium.

Some variations provide an aluminum alloy feedstock for additive manufacturing, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprising from 79.8 wt % to 88.3 wt % aluminum; from 1.1 wt % to 2.1 wt % copper; from 3.0 wt % to 4.6 wt % magnesium; from 7.1 wt % to 9.0 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium as a grain-refiner element. The aluminum alloy feedstock may be in the form of an ingot powder. In some variations, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprises from 81.3 wt % to about 87.8 wt % aluminum; from 1.2 wt % to 2.0 wt % copper; from 3.2 wt % to 4.4 wt % magnesium; from 7.3 wt % to 8.7 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium.

A spatter protection system for an additive manufacturing machine can include a sheet configured to be disposed over a build area of the additive manufacturing machine. The sheet can include an aperture configured to allow a spatter from the build area to eject through the aperture during energy application and to land on a back side of the sheet to prevent the spatter from landing on the build area. The system can include a motive system supporting the sheet and configured to move the sheet to locate the aperture over an energy application area.

Provided herein are manufacturing methods, e.g., comprising: (1a) forming a layer, including: depositing a starting material including a mixture of a metal and a sacrificial material; and applying a laser beam to the deposited starting material to consolidate the deposited starting material and form the layer; (1b) optionally repeating (1a) one or more times; and (1c) at least partially removing the sacrificial material to form a porous metal part.

An NC device as a numerical control device controls an additive manufacturing apparatus for producing an object by layering, on a workpiece, a material melted by being irradiated with a beam. The NC device includes: a feature quantity extracting unit that extracts, from image data, a feature quantity for determining a welding state that is a state where a molten material is added to the workpiece; and a process map creating unit that creates a process map in which a shape of the object and a layering condition are associated with each other. The layering condition is selected from among a plurality of layering conditions on the basis of a result of determination of the welding state, and includes at least one of beam intensity and a supply amount of a material.

The present disclosure is directed towards different embodiments of additively manufacturing and smoothing an AM preform to configure an AM preform for downstream processing (working, forging, and the like).

The present disclosure is directed towards different embodiments of additively manufacturing and smoothing an AM preform to configure an AM preform for downstream processing (working, forging, and the like).

The technology disclosed relates to high utilization of donor material in a writing process using Laser-Induced Forward Transfer. Specifically, the technology relates to reusing, or recycling, unused donor material by recoating target substrates with donor material after a writing process is performed with the target substrate. Further, the technology relates to target substrates including a pattern of discrete separated dots to be individually ejected from the target substrate using LIFT.

The technology disclosed relates to high utilization of donor material in a writing process using Laser-Induced Forward Transfer. Specifically, the technology relates to reusing, or recycling, unused donor material by recoating target substrates with donor material after a writing process is performed with the target substrate. Further, the technology relates to target substrates including a pattern of discrete separated dots to be individually ejected from the target substrate using LIFT.

A removable build module to connect to a host apparatus, may include a build platform to support an object-to-be-built, a drive unit to move the build platform, a memory to receive and store build parameters, and an interface circuit to communicate the build parameters to the host apparatus.