A powder bed fusion additive manufacturing method in which an object is built in a layer-by-layer manner. The method includes, for each layer of a plurality of successively fused layers, melting material of the layer by irradiating the layer with one or more energy beams a first time using a first set of irradiation parameters and allowing the melted material to solidify to define a fused region of the layer and reheating the fused region by irradiating the layer a subsequent time with one or more of energy beams using a second set of irradiation parameters. The first set of irradiation parameters includes at least one different irradiation parameter to the second set of irradiation parameters.

Additive manufacturing devices and methods for the same are provided. The additive manufacturing device may include a stage configured to support a substrate, a printhead disposed above the stage, and a targeted heating system disposed proximal the printhead. The printhead may be configured to heat a build material to a molten build material and deposit the molten build material on the substrate in the form of droplets to fabricate the article. The targeted heating system may be configured to control a temperature or temperature gradient of the droplets in a flight path interposed between the printhead and the substrate.

A method of heat-treating an additively-manufactured ferromagnetic component is presented. The additively-manufactured ferromagnetic component includes a metal alloy having iron and cobalt. The method of heat-treating is performed such that a saturation flux density of a heat-treated ferromagnetic component is greater than a saturation flux density of an as-formed ferromagnetic component. The heat-treated ferromagnetic component has a microstructure having an average grain size of substantially all grains in a range of about 0.1 micron to about 25 microns. A ferromagnetic component is also presented.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for additive manufacturing by ultra-high-speed laser cladding. The apparatus includes a laser generator, a beam expander, and a reflector. A light exit path of the reflector is arranged facing a cladding nozzle. The cladding nozzle is connected to a powder pool through a hose and a pump in succession. A matrix is arranged below the cladding nozzle. The matrix is located on a rotary platform. A main stepping motor is fixedly mounted below the rotary platform. The main stepping motor is fixed on a lifting platform. A laser rangefinder is arranged above the matrix. During the laser cladding-based additive manufacturing process, the ultrasonic vibration device, the infrared camera, the high-speed camera, the laser rangefinder, and the radiological inspection system are turned on to monitor the laser cladding process in real time.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a part including a formation of successive solid metallic layers (20.sub.1 . . . 20.sub.n), superimposed on one another, each layer describing a pattern defined from a digital model (M), each layer being formed by the deposition of a metal (25), called filler metal, the filler metal being subjected to an energy input so as to melt and constitute, when solidifying, said layer, wherein the filler metal is in the form of a powder (25), whose exposure to an energy beam (32) results in melting followed by solidification so as to form a solid layer (20.sub.1 . . . 20.sub.n), the method being characterized in that the filler metal (25) is an aluminum alloy comprising at least the following alloy elements: Ni, according to a weight fraction from 1 to 8%, preferably from 2 to 7%; Zr, according to a weight fraction from 0.3 à 3%, preferably from 0.5 to 2.5%; optionally V, according to a weight fraction from 0 à 4%, preferably from 0.5 to 2%; optionally Cu, according to a weight fraction from 0 à 7%, preferably from 2 to 7%; optionally Fe, according to a weight fraction from 0 à 3%, preferably from 0.5 to 3%.

The invention also relates to a part obtained by this method. The alloy used in the additive manufacturing method according to the invention, allows obtaining parts with remarkable features.

A three-dimensional PBF-AM apparatus includes: a build plate on which a powder material is spread in layers; and a beam irradiation device which irradiates the powder material spread on the build plate with a beam. The beam irradiation device divides a build region of the powder material spread on the build plate into a plurality of lines and performs beam scanning to melt the powder material in the build region line by line, and performs dummy scanning to scan the beam in a state that does not cause melting of the powder material between an end of beam scanning of an M-th (M is a natural number) line and a start of beam scanning of an (M+1)th line.

Systems and methods of adapting the geometrical shape of a laser beam in laser-based powder-bed fusion (PBF) are provided. An apparatus for laser-based powder-bed fusion includes a depositor that deposits a plurality of layers of a powder material. The apparatus further includes a laser beam source that generates a laser beam having a variable beam geometry. A laser application component applies the laser beam in one of a plurality of beam geometries to fuse the powder material to construct a build piece.

A system and method for monitoring real time stress development of laser additive manufacturing. In some embodiments, the system comprises a laser machine, a laser deposition head, an illumination laser, a line laser, two CCD cameras, a spectrum meter, a computer, and an ultrasonic shot head. The CCD camera can record the molten pool height and the line laser can be directed behind the molten pool to measure the shape and/or height of the newly formed layer. The computer builds a real-time FEM model of the layer, calculates the displacement of the solidified surface, and then calculates the stress formed in the layer. The spectrum meter monitors for non-stress induced defects. The data is transferred into a computer to determine whether defects will occur and control the laser deposition and ultrasonic shot head to treat the area and prevent emergence of stress induced defect.

In various aspects, 3D printers, and sensor systems coupled to or integrated with the 3D printers are disclosed. The sensor systems may include image and second sensors for detecting potential defects or print artifacts. During printing, an energy beam source forms a weld pool by melting selected regions of print material, which solidifies to produce the build piece. The image sensor may image an area including the weld pool to determine a landing location of matter ejected during the heating of print material to form the weld pool. The second sensor may detect a defect in the build piece based on the determination of the landing location. Print operation may be suspended while the sensor data is used to repair the defect, after which 3D printing resumes. In this way, for example, high quality build pieces can be produced with reduced post-processing times, and hence a higher manufacturing throughput.

In various aspects, 3D printers and recoaters incorporate sensor systems coupled to or integrated with the 3D printers. The sensor systems may include eddy current sensors and other sensors configured to measure an electromagnetic characteristic of the build piece. A three-dimensional (3-D) printer in one aspect includes a depositor configured to deposit metal, an energy beam source configured to selectively melt the metal to form a portion of a build piece, and a sensor configured to move relative to a surface of the print area and to measure an electromagnetic characteristic of the portion of the print area. The measured data can be used to detect defects and other information about the build piece that can be used to fix the defects or enhance the build piece geometry during the printing.