Comparisons of laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing builds through experimental in situ distortion and temperature measurements

In situ experimental measurements of the laser powder bed fusion build process are completed with the goal gaining insight into the evolution of distortion in the powder bed fusion build process. Utilizing a novel enclosed instrumented system, five experimental builds are performed. Experimental builds compare materials: Ti–6Al–4V and Inconel ^® 718, differing build geometries, and manufacturing machines: EOS M280 and Renishaw AM250. A combination of in situ measurements of distortion and temperature and post-build measurements of final part geometry are used to compare and contrast the different experiments. Experimental results show that builds completed using Inconel ^® 718 distort between 50% and 80% more relative to Ti–6Al–4V depending on substrate size and build geometry. The experimental build completed on the Renishaw AM250 distorted 10.6% more in the Z direction when compared with the identical build completed on the EOS M280 machine. Comparisons of post-build XY cross-sectional area show a 0.3% contraction from the predefined build geometry for the Renishaw AM250 as compared with the 4.5% contraction for the part built using the EOS M280. Recommendations and future work are also discussed.