Tasks for in-line quality control of Additive Manufacturing Powder Bed Fusion processes

Additive Manufacturing (AM) Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) processes open up new possibilities in terms of geometrically and functionally optimized parts and assemblies. Notwithstanding, the unpredictable quality and reliability of additive manufactured parts, due to e.g. geometrical deviations, delaminations as well as the lack of reproducibility are underlining the fact that quality control and quality assurance must be further developed in order to manufacture a product which is fit at first time for its designed purpose. This paper will discuss an approach to identify the overall tasks for an in-line quality control system for AM PBF processes. Starting from the quality management aspects for AM PFB processes, a method for the determination of the defects and failures detectable during the manufacturing process was developed and implemented in order to set the premises for an overall inline quality control respectively for an in-process monitoring system for PBF processes.