A Study of the Effect of Machine Parameters on Defects Produced in EOS Additive Manufacturing Builds

⁵Additive Manufacturing (AM) is defined in the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard F2792 as “a process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies. It provides an advanced method for building complex geometries and parts for high performance with a significant cost savings. ⁵⁵It’s advantages include the reduced need for tools and molds commonly used in manufacturing, a large reduction in wasted material, much shorter manufacturing cycles for the building of hardware, and its uniquely inherent ability to produce much more complex shapes. Polymers, metals, ceramics, and composites can all be built using some method of AM.

The use of standardized vendor parameters for additive manufacturing builds has resulted in numerous defects in the as-built parts. This study looked at HR-1 products built on an EOS M290 DMLS 3D printer. The builds were monitored using an EOS in-situ monitoring system to identify when “problems” began to occur and it compares the “problems” with the results of post build computed tomography inspections. It also looked at the defects produced and evaluated them versus the additive manufacturing process parameters.