This paper aims to investigate the influence of non-uniform gas speed across the build area on the melt pool depth during laser powder bed fusion. The study focuses on whether a non-uniform gas speed is a source of process variation within an individual build.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new method for representing heterogeneous materials using nested STL shells, based, in particular, on the density distributions of human bones.

Measurement of the high-temperature melt pool region in the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process is a primary focus of researchers to further understand the dynamic physics of the heating, melting, adhesion, and cooling which define this commercially popular additive manufacturing process. This paper will detail the design, execution, and results of high speed, high magnification in-situ thermographic measurements conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) focusing on the melt pool region of a commercial L-PBF process. Multiple phenomena are observed including plasma plume and hot particle ejection from the melt region. The thermographic measurement process will be detailed with emphasis on the 'measurability' of observed phenomena and the sources of measurement uncertainty. Further discussion will relate these thermographic results to other efforts at NIST towards L-PBF process finite element simulation and development of in-situ sensing and control methodologies.