Böhm J, Markl M, Körner C (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Original Authors: Jonas Böhm, Matthias Markl, Carolin Körner
Book Volume: 357
Article Number: 119510
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2026.119510
Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion exhibits significant potential for the fabrication of complex components with challenging geometrical features. The inherent mechanical support provided by the powder bed, combined with reduced thermal gradients at elevated operating temperatures, facilitates the realisation of support-free overhanging structures. Furthermore, spot melting strategies mitigate thermally induced stresses and show no scan-length dependencies. However, in overhang regions, the differing thermal and physical conditions of powder compared to bulk material continue to challenge melt precision and process stability. Enlarged melt pools within the nearly thermally insulating powder bed promote particle agglomeration and melt intrusion, leading to pronounced surface roughness and systematic dimensional deviations.
To directly address these limitations, we introduce a physics-informed energy adaptation strategy that accounts for local material conditions at each spot. A three-dimensional voxelised weight array, derived from numerical simulations, is applied to the 3D model to assign locally adapted exposure times on a spot-by-spot basis. This approach allows rapid parameter adaptation across entire layers within seconds, thereby eliminating the need for extensive and costly optimisation iterations. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through the fabrication of support-free horizontal overhang structures. The adaptation strategy reduces the down-facing surface roughness significantly by 50 % and improves dimensional accuracy, decreasing the mean deviation from the target from approximately 290 µm to below 50 µm.
APA:
Böhm, J., Markl, M., & Körner, C. (2026). Voxel-based energy adaptation for spot melting in electron beam powder bed fusion. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2026.119510
MLA:
Böhm, Jonas, Matthias Markl, and Carolin Körner. "Voxel-based energy adaptation for spot melting in electron beam powder bed fusion." Journal of Materials Processing Technology 357 (2026).
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