Powder coater monitoring for detection of anomalies in DMLM process

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is becoming more and more favorable in aerospace industry applications. However, the quality standards for this type of applications are very high, therefore a thorough investigation is required not only after manufacturing but also during the AM process. The tool introduced in this study visually demonstrates if there are any anomalies during powder coating in Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM) process. This tool is based on an algorithm that collects and analyzes the images of powder coating and determines whether the powder was spread evenly, or an anomaly occurred during coating. In this study, also a cross validation was carried out with the AM distortion simulation results of the corresponding test part. The same layers where an anomaly was detected in the powder coating analysis tool were investigated in the simulation results and a slight indication was observed, and that validates the outcome of the tool. This study demonstrates results of process anomalies observed in a test part build.