Quality control of laser- and powder bed-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies

The quality of metal components manufactured by laser- and powder bed-based additive manufacturing technologies has continuously been improved over the last years. However, to establish this production technology in industries with very high quality standards the accessibility of prevalent quality management methods to all steps of the process chain needs still to be enhanced. This publication describes which tools are and will be available to fulfil those requirements from the perspective of a laser machine manufacturer. Generally five aspects of the part building process are covered by separate Quality Management (QM) modules: the powder quality, the temperature management, the process gas atmosphere, the melt pool behaviour and the documentation module. This paper sets the focus on melt pool analysis and control.