Additive Manufacturing | Selective Laser Melting

The Selective Laser Melting is an additive manufacturing technique developed to melt and fuse metallic powder via a high power density laser. The body of the designed 3D part is built by selective melting and re-solidifying metallic powders in each layer. The building platform is lowered by a tiny fraction and a new layer of powder is deposited.

The powder bed typically is preheated to reduce the needed energy to reach the melting temperature of the powder. An equal heat distribution is necessary and important for a good quality object with homogenous metal structure. An Optris IR Imager, e.g. PI 640i can measure the bed temperature and this is an important information for the machine if it’s in good or bad condition. Additionally the single areas of laser melting can be measured by a short wavelength camera, such as the PI 08M.