Open Systems Platform for Multi-Laser Additive Manufacturing

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is an increasingly important process for additive manufacturing (AM) of metallic parts for aerospace and defense. To realize the full potential of LPBF to meet anticipated needs of the defense industrial base, advances in LPBF systems are needed, to include larger build envelopes, faster build rate, improved quality control, and decreased cost. Key enablers to achieve these goals include multi-laser LPBF platforms with integrated process monitoring sensors, analytics, and feedback control capabilities. The purpose of this effort is to develop a prototype open-architecture LPBF system with integrated process monitoring and demonstrated feedback control, to serve as a test bed for multi-laser research and production platform for large parts (up to 24" x 24" x 12"). The effort builds on past work successfully transitioning open-architecture single laser systems and sensing solutions from Phase I all the way through TRL-9.