Real Time Defect Detection on New Generation Electron Beam Manufacturing System

Electron Beam Melting is a novel additive manufacturing technology that selectively consolidates metal powders to fabricate 3D structures from digital data in a layer-by-layer fashion.  EBM has been shown to be capable of fabricating high-volume, high-value components with reduced lead times.  The new generation of Arcam’s EBM systems are equipped with high resolution cameras that acquire images of each layer, after the layer has been completed.  The camera can take a picture of the full build area and has a pixel resolution of 100 micros.  The new imaging system can also be used as a calibration tool for machine setup and operation.  New software is being developed with collaboration from ORNL MDF to create a 3D model of the structured build with the acquired images.  It has been proven with CT scanning, the imaging system can accurately detect features in the process and can be used as a quality control tool.