Electron beam powder bed fusion system

• Subject Area: Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 543851476

The electron beam powder bed fusion system significantly expands the product range for additive manufacturing of metallic components at the TU Dortmund University, based on the experience with laser beam powder bed fusion, and enables new research potentials to be developed. Compared to other powder bed fusion techniques, electron beam powder bed fusion offers unique advantages such as a vacuum atmosphere in the build environment, which leads to a reduction in oxygen contamination and, thus, enables the processing of materials with a particularly high affinity for oxygen. High build rates and preheating of the build platform enable the production of components with nearly no residual stresses in a time- and resource-efficient manner, thus, offering great potential for industrial applications. With regard to the integration of the electron beam powder bed fusion system into ongoing and envisaged research projects, an open system for layer- or voxel-based adaptation of the process parameters as a function of geometry and material class is necessary. This offers the opportunity to process new material classes, which have not yet been the subject of research. In order to evaluate the quality of a build job with regard to process-induced characteristics, current research projects require extensive analyses (e. g. metallographic sections, CT analyses) to be carried out after the build process. Process monitoring tools offer a high potential and might enable the detection of defects already during production. Based on the applied device configuration, novel process monitoring systems based on pre-installed interfaces can additionally be qualified for the manufacturing process. The electron beam powder bed fusion system is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the electron beam powder bed fusion process and, thus, enabling the production of components with wide-ranging design freedom and locally adapted property profiles. Multidisciplinary collaborations with other working groups enable the intensive use of the electron beam powder bed fusion system. This allows the investigation of the process along the entire process chain.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Elektronenstrahlschmelzanlage
• Instrumentation Group: 2150 Schweißmaschinen und Brennschneidemaschinen
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dortmund
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank Walther