In-situ process monitoring in additive manufacturing

Laser based metal powder bed fusion (LPBF) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process where metal powder is melted by scanning a high power laser across a powder bed. Although many would consider it a relatively mature AM technology there is still a lack of fundamental process understanding. This means that process parameter development and component design are largely conducted iteratively and empirically. Whilst this approach works, it is often slow and expensive. A deeper understanding of process fundamentals gives more information to accelerate development rather than having to rely on a best guess approach.