Operando electron optical monitoring in electron beam powder bed fusion: characteristic signatures as fault indicator

Ye J, Semjatov N, Kandler M, Renner J, Kloos N, Mrzljak S, Walther F, Wahlmann B, Körner C (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Progress in Additive Manufacturing Springer International Publishing

DOI: 10.1007/s40964-025-01459-w

Abstract

Electron optical imaging shows significant potential as a process monitoring technique in electron beam powder bed fusion. When the primary electron beam interacts with substrate materials, electrons are emitted from the surface. These electrons carry essential surface information that can be used for monitoring. Usually, an additional step is incorporated into the process where the electron beam scans the entire surface, generating optical images layer by layer, known as in situ electron optical imaging. However, the potential of electrons emitted during the melting process, called operando signals, has not been fully utilised. By correlating X-ray computed tomography measurements, in situ, and operando electron optical monitoring, this study reveals a strong correlation between outliers in the operando signal and the start of defect formation. The defect initiation is often associated with strong balling which results in abnormal high operando signal intensity. The defect development leads to topographical features that can be effectively captured by subtracting operando signals from opposite detector pairs. These observations suggest that operando electron optical imaging is a strong tool to identify the initiation of faults in electron beam powder bed fusion.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jihui Ye Sonderforschungsbereich 814/3 Additive Fertigung Moritz Kandler Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 103 Vom Atom zur Turbinenschaufel - wissenschaftliche Grundlagen für eine neue Generation einkristalliner Superlegierungen Jakob Renner Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffwissenschaften (Werkstoffkunde und Technologie der Metalle) (WTM) Benjamin Wahlmann Zentralinstitut für Neue Materialien und Prozesstechnik

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Dortmund DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Ye, J., Semjatov, N., Kandler, M., Renner, J., Kloos, N., Mrzljak, S.,... Körner, C. (2025). Operando electron optical monitoring in electron beam powder bed fusion: characteristic signatures as fault indicator. Progress in Additive Manufacturing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-025-01459-w

MLA:

Ye, Jihui, et al. "Operando electron optical monitoring in electron beam powder bed fusion: characteristic signatures as fault indicator." Progress in Additive Manufacturing (2025).

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