This volume is undergoing review. This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9738, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction (if any), and Conference Committee listing.

Conventional nanotechnology based on the lithography and scanning probe microscopy is limited to 2D fabrication and modification. Here, I will talk about the method for 3D laser fabrication with two-photon polymerization [1], two-photon isomerization [2], and two-photon photo-reduction [3]. Self-growth technology, such as self-grown fiber structures of polymer [4] and self-grown metallic fractal metamaterials structures [5] will be also discussed.

We have proposed a novel method of low-temperature nitrogen doping into 4H-SiC(0001) induced by KrF excimer laser irradiation to a SiN_x film. The SiN_x film with a thickness of 100 nm was deposited on an n-type 4H-SiC(0001) substrate by chemical vapor deposition. Laser beam size on the sample surface was 300 μm×300 μm. Irradiation fluence was 1.0 J/cm²-4.0 J/cm², and the number of shots was from 1 shot to 30 shots. Laser irradiation was performed in a vacuum chamber to avoid oxidation of the SiC surface. High concentration nitrogen doping (~1×10²¹ /cm³ at the surface) and very low contact resistance with ohmic I-V characteristics can be achieved by laser ablation of the SiN_x film. In the case of laser irradiation at the fluence of 2.0 J/cm², the SiN_x film was almost ablated without laser ablation of the SiC substrate. Then, excellent ohmic contact characteristics was obtained at the irradiation number of 5 shots, and it was hardly deteriorated up to 30 shots. In the case of irradiation fluence above 3.0 J/cm², ablation of the SiC substrates was induced and ohmic contact characteristics were deteriorated with increasing the number of shots. From these results, we conclude that excellent ohmic contact characteristics without irradiation damage to SiC substrates can be obtained in a stable.

In this paper, we present a pure silica micro-cantilever based optical fiber sensor for acoustic wave detection. The cantilever is directly fabricated by fs laser micromachining on an optical fiber tip functioning as an inline Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). The applied acoustic wave pressurizes the micro-cantilever beam and the corresponding dynamic signals can be probed by the FPI. The thickness, length, and width of the micro-cantilever beam can be flexibly designed and fabricated so that the sensitivity, frequency response, and the total measurement range can be varied to fit many practical applications. Experimental results will be presented and analyzed. Due to the assembly free fabrication of the fs-laser, multiple micro-cantilever beams could be potentially fabricated in/on a single optical fiber for quasi-distributed acoustic mapping with high spatial resolution.

Drop-on-demand inkjet printing is mostly based on thermal and piezo-actuation, allowing for densely packed nozzles in inkjet printers. However, the droplet diameter is typically defined by the nozzle diameter, thus limiting the range of viscosity that can be jetted to 10-100 mPa.s to prevent nozzle clogging. Here, we present a laser-assisted system for the delivery of micro-droplets of highly viscous fluids with sub-nozzle resolution. Highly focused supersonic jets have recently been demonstrated by focusing a nanosecond pulse of light into a micro-capillary filled with dyed water, hence generating a cavitation bubble. The consequent pressure wave impact on the concave free surface of the liquid generated flow-focused micro-jets. We implemented this technique for the production of low velocity micro-droplets with photopolymer inks of increasing viscosity (0.6-148 mPa.s) into a 300 μm-wide glass capillary using low laser energies (3-70 μJ). Time-resolved imaging provided details on the droplet generation.

Single micro-droplets of diameter 70-80 μm were produced on demand with inks of viscosity 0.6-9 mPa.s with good controllability and reproducibility, thus enabling to print two-dimensional patterns with a precision of 13 μm. Furthermore, the primary droplet produced with the most viscous fluid was about 66% of the capillary diameter. Preliminary results also showed that the process is linearly scalable to narrower capillaries (100-200 μm), thus paving the way for a compact laser-assisted inkjet printer. A possible application of the device would be additive manufacturing as the printed patterns could be consequently cured.

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) electrode architectures have attracted great interest for the development of lithium-ion micro-batteries applicable for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), sensors, and hearing aids. Since commercial available micro-batteries are mainly limited in overall cell capacity by their electrode footprint, new processing strategies for increasing both capacity and electrochemical performance have to be developed. In case of such standard microbatteries, two-dimensional (2D) electrode arrangements are applied with thicknesses up to 200 μm. These electrode layers are composed of active material, conductive agent, graphite, and polymeric binder. Nevertheless, with respect to the type of active material, the active material to conductive agent ratio, and the film thickness, such thick-films suffer from low ionic and electronic conductivities, poor electrolyte accessibility, and finally, limited electrochemical performance under challenging conditions. In order to overcome these drawbacks, 3D electrode arrangements are under intense investigation since they allow the reduction of lithium-ion diffusion pathways in between inter-digitated electrodes, even for electrodes with enhanced mass loadings. In this paper, we present how to combine laser-printing and femtosecond laser-structuring for the development of advanced 3D electrodes composed of Li(Ni_1/3Mn_1/3Co_1/3)O₂ (NMC). In a first step, NMC thick-films were laser-printed and calendered to achieve film thicknesses in the range of 50 μm – 80 μm. In a second step, femtosecond laser-structuring was carried out in order to generate 3D architectures directly into thick-films. Finally, electrochemical cycling of laser-processed films was performed in order to evaluate the most promising 3D electrode designs suitable for application in long life-time 3D micro-batteries.

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is of increasing interest due to its unique combination of truly three-dimensional (3D) fabrication capability and ultrahigh spatial resolution of ~40 nm. However, the stringent requirements of non-linear resins seriously limit the material functionality of 3D printing via TPP. Precise fabrication of 3D micro/nanostructures with multi-functionalities such as high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength is still a long-standing challenge. In this work, TPP fabrication of arbitrary 3D micro/nanostructures using multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)-thiolacrylate (MTA) composite resins has been developed. Up to 0.2 wt% MWNTs have been incorporated into thiol-acrylate resins to form highly stable and uniform composite photoresists without obvious degradation for one week at room temperature. Various functional 3D micro/nanostructures including woodpiles, micro-coils, spiral-like photonic crystals, suspended micro-bridges, micro-gears and complex micro-cars have been successfully fabricated. The MTA composite resin offers significant enhancements in electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, and on the same time, preserving high optical transmittance and flexibility. Tightly controlled alignment of MWNTs and the strong anisotropy effect were confirmed. Microelectronic devices including capacitors and resistors made of the MTA composite polymer were demonstrated. The 3D micro/nanofabrication using the MTA composite resins enables the precise 3D printing of micro/nanostructures of high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, which is expected to lead a wide range of device applications, including micro/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), integrated photonics and 3D electronics.

Generalized Phase Contrast (GPC) is an efficient light shaping method for generating speckle-free contiguous distributions useful in diverse applications such as static beam shaping, optical manipulation or for two-photon excitation in optogenetics. GPC increases the utilization of typical Gaussian lasers for such applications by using phase modulation as opposed to amplitude truncating masks. Here, we explore GPC’s potential for increasing the yield of micropscopic 3D printing also known as direct laser writing. Many light based additive manufacturing techniques, adopt a point scanning approach which uses up a lot of time and is prone to roughness in the output. A high-speed layer based approach based on GPC may boost the printing speeds by 10x to 100x, making microscopic 3D printing more practical for industry and manufacture. Such an increase in printing speed would extend its use out of research, and potentially allow advanced lab-produced components in everyday consumer products.

As celebrated by the Nobel Prize 2014 in Chemistry light-based technologies can now overcome the diffraction barrier for imaging with nanoscopic resolution by so-called super-resolution microscopy1. However, interactive investigations coupled with advanced imaging modalities at these small scale domains gradually demand the development of a new generation of disruptive tools, not only for passively observing at nanoscopic scales, but also for actively reaching into and effectively handling constituents in this size domain. This intriguing mindset has recently led to the emergence of a novel research discipline that could potentially be able to offer the full packet needed for true "active nanoscopy" by use of so-called light-driven micro-robotics or Light Robotics in short.

A key challenge in micro- and nanotechnology is the direct patterning of functional structures. For example, it is highly desirable to possess the ability to create three-dimensional (3D), conductive, and optically transparent structures. Efforts in this direction have, to date, yielded less than optimal results since the polymer composites had low optical transparency over the visible range, were only slightly conductive, or incompatible with high resolution structuring. We have previously presented the novel cross-linkable, conductive, highly transparent composite material based on a photoresist (IP-L 780, OrmoComp, or SU-8) and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide. Material patterning by conventional and two-photon photolithography has been demonstrated as proof-of-concept. Aiming to increase the resolution and to extend the spectrum of exciting applications we continued our research into identifying new ionic liquid - polymer composites. In this paper, we report the precise 3D single-step structuring of optically transparent and electrically conductive ionic liquid - polymer nanostructures with the highest spatial resolution (down to 150 nm) achieved to date. This was achieved via the development of novel cross-linkable composite based on the photoresist IP-G 780 and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide. The successful combination of the developed material with the advanced direct laser writing technique enabled the time- and cost-saving direct manufacturing of transparent, electrically conductive components. We believe that the excellent characteristics of the structured material will open a wider range of exciting applications.

The use of laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) techniques for the printing of functional materials has been demonstrated for numerous applications. The printing gives rise to patterns, which can be used to fabricate planar interconnects. More recently, various groups have demonstrated electrical interconnects from laser-printed 3D structures. The laser printing of these interconnects takes place through aggregation of voxels of either molten metal or of pastes containing dispersed metallic particles. However, the generated 3D structures do not posses the same metallic conductivity as a bulk metal interconnect of the same cross-section and length as those formed by wire bonding or tab welding. An alternative is to laser transfer entire 3D structures using a technique known as lase-and-place. Lase-and-place is a LIFT process whereby whole components and parts can be transferred from a donor substrate onto a desired location with one single laser pulse. This paper will describe the use of LIFT to laser print freestanding, solid metal foils or beams precisely over the contact pads of discrete devices to interconnect them into fully functional circuits. Furthermore, this paper will also show how the same laser can be used to bend or fold the bulk metal foils prior to transfer, thus forming compliant 3D structures able to provide strain relief for the circuits under flexing or during motion from thermal mismatch. These interconnect "ridges" can span wide gaps (on the order of a millimeter) and accommodate height differences of tens of microns between adjacent devices. Examples of these laser printed 3D metallic bridges and their role in the development of next generation electronics by additive manufacturing will be presented.

Reducing mass without sacrificing mechanical integrity and performance is a critical goal in a vast range of applications. Introducing a controlled amount of porosity in a strong and dense material (hence fabricating a cellular solid) is an obvious avenue to weight reduction. The mechanical effectiveness of this strategy, though, depends strongly on the architecture of the resulting cellular material (i.e., the topology of the introduced porosity). Recent progress in additive manufacturing enables fabrication of macro-scale cellular materials (both single-phase and hybrid) with unprecedented dimensional control on the unit-cell and sub-unit-cell features, potentially producing architectures with structural hierarchy from the nano to the macro-scale. As mechanical properties of materials often exhibit beneficial size effects at the nano-scale (e.g., strengthening of metals and toughening of ceramics), these novel manufacturing approaches provide a unique opportunity to translate these beneficial effects to the macro-scale, further improving the mechanical performance of architected materials. The enormous design space for architected materials, and the strong relationship between the topological features of the architecture and the effective physical and mechanical properties of the material at the macro-scale, present both a huge opportunity and an urgent need for the development of suitable optimal design strategies. Here we present a number of strategies for the advanced manufacturing, characterization and optimal design of a variety of lightweight architected materials with unique combinations of mechanical properties (stiffness, strength, damping coefficient…). The urgent need to form strong synergies among the fields of additive manufacturing, topology optimization and architectureproperties relations is emphasized throughout.

In this paper, recent research and progress associated with development of alloys and composites using LENS are reviewed. The microstructure of novel materials can be tailored by controlling both composition and process parameters. For process control, closed-loop diagnostics and controls such as in-situ molten pool sensor and Z-height control subsystems are utilized, while the thermal behavior measurement with thermal imaging methods and numerical simulation are also investigated. The existing problems with residual stress and porosity in deposited materials are discussed.

Selective laser sintering (SLS) enables fast, flexible and cost-efficient production of parts directly from 3D CAD data. However, compared with more established machine tools, there is a marked lack of process monitoring and feedback control of key process variables to optimize production parameters in-situ. We apply optical coherence tomography (OCT) to evaluate components produced by SLS and suggest a route for its application in in-situ process monitoring within the SLS tool for real-time monitoring of the SLS process for assurance, or even dynamic correction of defects during the build. OCT is shown to be a viable technique for evaluation of both surface and sub-surface features built into a part either by design or from poor sintering or non-homogeneous powder spreading. We demonstrate detection and quantification of surface defects on a ~30 μm scale in a Polyamide (PA2200) part, resolving ‘built-in’ fine features within a 200 to 400μm depth below the surface.

Additive manufacturing of metal components through directed energy deposition or powder bed fusion is a complex undertaking, often involving hundreds or thousands of individual laser deposits. During processing, conditions may fluctuate, e.g. material feed rate, beam power, surrounding gas composition, local and global temperature, build geometry, etc., leading to unintended variations in final part geometry, microstructure and properties. To assess or control as-deposited quality, researchers have used a variety of methods, including those based on sensing of melt pool and plume emission characteristics, characteristics of powder application, and layer-wise imaging.

Here, a summary of ongoing process monitoring activities at Penn State is provided, along with a discussion of recent advancements in the area of layer-wise image acquisition and analysis during powder bed fusion processing. Specifically, methods that enable direct comparisons of CAD model, build images, and 3D micro-tomographic scan data will be covered, along with thoughts on how such analyses can be related to overall process quality.

NIST’s Physical Measurement and Engineering Laboratories are jointly developing the Additive Manufacturing Measurement Test bed (AMMT)/ Temperature and Emittance of Melts, Powders and Solids (TEMPS) facilities. These facilities will be co-located on an open architecture laser-based powder bed fusion system allowing users full access to the system’s operation parameters. This will provide users with access to machine-independent monitoring and control of the powder bed fusion process.

In this paper there will be emphasis on the AMMT, which incorporates in-line visible light collection optics for monitoring and feedback control of the powder bed fusion process. We shall present an overview of the AMMT/TEMPs program and it goals. The optical and mechanical design of the open architecture powder-bed fusion system and the AMMT will be also be described. In addition, preliminary measurement results from the system along with the current system status of the system the will be described.

Liquid Crystalline Elastomers (LCEs) are very promising smart materials that can be made sensitive to different external stimuli, such as heat, pH, humidity and light, by changing their chemical composition. In this paper we report the implementation of a nematically aligned LCE actuator able to undergo large light-induced deformations. We prove that this property is still present even when the actuator is submerged in fresh water. Thanks to the presence of azo-dye moieties, capable of going through a reversible trans-cis photo-isomerization, and by applying light with two different wavelengths we managed to control the bending of such actuator in the liquid environment. The reported results represent the first step towards swimming microdevices powered by light.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is promising to produce complex shaped components, including metals and alloys, to meet requirements from different industries such as aerospace, defense and biomedicines. Current laser AM uses CW lasers and very few publications have been reported for using pulsed lasers (esp. ultrafast lasers). In this paper, additive manufacturing of Tungsten materials is investigated by using femtosecond (fs) fiber lasers. Various processing conditions are studied, which leads to desired characteristics in terms of morphology, porosity, hardness, microstructural and mechanical properties of the processed components. Fully dense Tungsten part with refined grain and increased hardness was obtained and compared with parts made with different pulse widths and CW laser. The results are evidenced that the fs laser based AM provides more dimensions to modify mechanical properties with controlled heating, rapid melting and cooling rates compared with a CW or long pulsed laser. This can greatly benefit to the make of complicated structures and materials that could not be achieved before.

The effect of laser remelting of surfaces of as-built Selective Laser Melted (SLM) Inconel 625 was evaluated for its potential to improve the surface roughness of SLM parts. Many alloys made by SLM have properties similar to their wrought counterparts, but surface roughness of SLM-made parts is much higher than found in standard machine shop operations. This has implications for mechanical properties of SLM materials, such as a large debit in fatigue properties, and in applications of SLM, where surface roughness can alter fluid flow characteristics. Because complexity and netshape fabrication are fundamental advantages of Additive Manufacturing (AM), post-processing by mechanical means to reduce surface roughness detracts from the potential utility of AM. Use of a laser to improve surface roughness by targeted remelting or annealing offers the possibility of in-situ surface polishing of AM surfaces- the same laser used to melt the powder could be amplitude modulated to smooth the part during the build. The effects of remelting the surfaces of SLM Inconel 625 were demonstrated using a CW fiber laser (IPG: 1064 nm, 2-50 W) that is amplitude modulated with a pulse profile to induce remelting without spallation or ablation. The process achieved uniform depth of melting and improved surface roughness. The results show that with an appropriate pulse profile that meters the heat-load, surface features such as partially sintered powder particles and surface connected porosity can be mitigated via a secondary remelting/annealing event.

The proposed paper illustrates the fabrication and heat treatment of high strength Al-Cu-Mg alloy produced by selective laser melting (SLM) process. Al-Cu-Mg alloy is one of the heat treatable aluminum alloys regarded as difficult to fusion weld. SLM is an additive manufacturing technique through which components are built by selectively melting powder layers with a focused laser beam. The process is characterized by short laser-powder interaction times and localized high heat input, which leads to steep thermal gradients, rapid solidification and fast cooling. In this research, 3D Al-Cu-Mg parts with relative high density of 99.8% are produced by SLM from gas atomized powders. Room temperature tensile tests reveal a remarkable mechanical behavior: the samples show yield and tensile strengths of about 276 MPa and 402 MPa, respectively, along with fracture strain of 6%. The effect of solution treatment on microstructure and related tensile properties is examined and the results demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of the SLMed Al-Cu-Mg samples can be greatly enhanced through proper heat treatment. After T4 solution treatment at 540°C, under the effect of precipitation strengthening, the tensile strength and the yield strength increase to 532 MPa and 338 MPa, respectively, and the elongation increases to 13%.

Glasses including fused quartz have significant scientific and engineering applications including optics, communications, electronics, and hermetic seals. This paper investigates a filament fed process for Additive Manufacturing (AM) of fused quartz. Additive manufacturing has several potential benefits including increased design freedom, faster prototyping, and lower processing costs for small production volumes. However, current research in AM of glasses is limited and has focused on non-optical applications. Fused quartz is studied here because of its desirability for high-quality optics due to its high transmissivity and thermal stability. Fused quartz also has a higher working temperature than soda lime glass which poses a challenge for AM. In this work, fused quartz filaments are fed into a CO₂ laser generated melt pool, smoothly depositing material onto the work piece. Single tracks are printed to explore the effects that different process parameters have on the morphology of printed fused quartz. A spectrometer is used to measure the thermal radiation incandescently emitted from the melt pool. Thin-walls are printed to study the effects of layer-to-layer height. Finally, a 3D fused quartz cube is printed using the newly acquired layer height and polished on each surface. The transmittance and index homogeneity of the polished cube are both measured. These results show that the filament fed process has the potential to print fused quartz with optical transparency and of index of refraction uniformity approaching bulk processed glass.

Residual stresses and deformations continue to remain one of the primary challenges towards expanding the scope of selective laser melting as an industrial scale manufacturing process. While process monitoring and feedback-based process control of the process has shown significant potential, there is still dearth of techniques to tackle the issue. Numerical modelling of selective laser melting process has thus been an active area of research in the last few years. However, large computational resource requirements have slowed the usage of these models for optimizing the process.

In this paper, a calibrated, fast, multiscale thermal model coupled with a 3D finite element mechanical model is used to simulate residual stress formation and deformations during selective laser melting. The resulting reduction in thermal model computation time allows evolutionary algorithm-based optimization of the process. A multilevel optimization strategy is adopted using a customized genetic algorithm developed for optimizing cellular scanning strategy for selective laser melting, with an objective of reducing residual stresses and deformations. The resulting thermo-mechanically optimized cellular scanning strategies are compared with standard scanning strategies and have been used to manufacture standard samples.

The change in properties of a propagating ultrasonic wave has been a mainstay characterization tool of the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) industry for identifying subsurface defects (e.g. damage). A variant of this concept could be applicable to 3D additive manufacturing where the existence of defects (e.g. pores) within a sub-layer could mark a product as non-qualifying. We have been exploring the utility of pulsed laser ultrasonic excitation coupled with CW laser heterodyne detection as an all optical scheme for characterizing sub surface layer properties. The all-optical approach permits a straight forward integration into a laser additive processing tool. To test the concept, we have developed an experimental system that generates pulsed ultrasonic waves (the probe) with high bandwidth (<<10MHz) and a surface displacement sensor that can capture the ultrasonic "return" signal with bandwidth close to 300 MHz. The use of high frequencies enables the detection of smaller defect sites. The technique is time resolved with the sensor and probe as point (>>30-200 microns) beams. Current tests include characterizing properties of spot weld joints between two thin stainless steel plates. The long term objective is to transition the technique into a laser additive manufacturing tool.

The advent of laser technology has been a key enabler for industrial 3D printing, known as Additive Manufacturing (AM). Despite its commercial success and unique technical capabilities, laser-based AM systems are not yet able to produce parts with the same accuracy and surface finish as CNC machining. To enable the geometry and material freedoms afforded by AM, yet achieve the precision and productivity of CNC machining, hybrid combinations of these two processes have started to gain traction.

To achieve the benefits of combined processing, laser technology has been integrated into mainstream CNC machines - effectively repurposing them as hybrid manufacturing platforms. This paper reviews how this engineering challenge has prompted beam delivery innovations to allow automated changeover between laser processing and machining, using standard CNC tool changers. Handling laser-processing heads using the tool changer also enables automated change over between different types of laser processing heads, further expanding the breadth of laser processing flexibility in a hybrid CNC. This paper highlights the development, challenges and future impact of hybrid CNCs on laser processing.

This paper reports a fully printed phased array antenna developed on a 125 micron thick flexible Kapton substrate. Switching for the phase delay lines is accomplished using printed carbon nanotube transistors with ion gel dielectric layers. Design of each element of the phased array antenna is reported, including a low loss constant impedance power divider, a phase shifter network, and patch antenna design. Steering of an X-band PAA operating at 10GHz from 0 degrees to 22.15 degrees is experimentally demonstrated. In order to completely package the array with electrical interconnects, a single substrate interconnect scheme is also investigated.

Digital medical 3D printing technology is a new hi-tech which combines traditional medical and digital design, computer science, bio technology and 3D print technology. At the present time there are four levels application: The printed 3D model is the first and simple application. The surgery makes use of the model to plan the processing before operation. The second is customized operation tools such as implant guide. It helps doctor to operate with special tools rather than the normal medical tools. The third level application of 3D printing in medical area is to print artificial bones or teeth to implant into human body. The big challenge is the fourth level which is to print organs with 3D printing technology. In this paper we introduced an application of 3D printing technology in tumor operation. We use 3D printing to print guide for invasion operation. Puncture needles were guided by printed guide in face tumors operation. It is concluded that this new type guide is dominantly advantageous.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is considered as one of the most important additive manufacturing processes due to component stability and its broad range of usable materials. However the influence of the different process parameters on mechanical workpiece properties is still poorly studied, leading to the fact that further optimization is necessary to increase workpiece quality. In order to investigate the impact of various process parameters, laboratory experiments are implemented to improve the understanding of the SLS limitations and advantages on an educational level. Experiments are based on two different workstations, used to teach students the fundamentals of SLS. First of all a 50 W CO₂ laser workstation is used to investigate the interaction of the laser beam with the used material in accordance with varied process parameters to analyze a single-layered test piece. Second of all the FORMIGA P110 laser sintering system from EOS is used to print different 3D test pieces in dependence on various process parameters. Finally quality attributes are tested including warpage, dimension accuracy or tensile strength. For dimension measurements and evaluation of the surface structure a telecentric lens in combination with a camera is used. A tensile test machine allows testing of the tensile strength and the interpreting of stress-strain curves. The developed laboratory experiments are suitable to teach students the influence of processing parameters. In this context they will be able to optimize the input parameters depending on the component which has to be manufactured and to increase the overall quality of the final workpiece.

Repeatability and reproducibility of parts produced by selective laser melting is a standing issue, and coupled with a lack of standardized quality control presents a major hindrance towards maturing of selective laser melting as an industrial scale process. Consequently, numerical process modelling has been adopted towards improving the predictability of the outputs from the selective laser melting process. Establishing the reliability of the process, however, is still a challenge, especially in components having overhanging structures.

In this paper, a systematic approach towards establishing reliability of overhanging structure production by selective laser melting has been adopted. A calibrated, fast, multiscale thermal model is used to simulate the single track formation on a thick powder bed. Single tracks are manufactured on a thick powder bed using same processing parameters, but at different locations in a powder bed and in different laser scanning directions. The difference in melt track widths and depths captures the effect of changes in incident beam power distribution due to location and processing direction. The experimental results are used in combination with numerical model, and subjected to uncertainty and reliability analysis. Cumulative probability distribution functions obtained for melt track widths and depths are found to be coherent with observed experimental values. The technique is subsequently extended for reliability characterization of single layers produced on a thick powder bed without support structures, by determining cumulative probability distribution functions for average layer thickness, sample density and thermal homogeneity.

We demonstrated that a Ti-6Al-4V plate, which is clinically used for artificial bone and hard tissue implant in human body because of their light and biocompatibility, were fabricated by SLM process in vacuum. The chamber’s pressure was set to 1.0×10^-3 Pa to prevent the Ti64 powder from oxidizing. The base plate of the powder bed was vertically dropped in determined steps, and Ti64 powder supplied from the powder feeder was then smoothed by a roller on top of the powder bed. The single-mode fiber laser irradiated and melted the powder bed to make a molten pool in order to form 2D metallic structures In order to investigate the laser melting and solidification dynamics, a process of Ti 64 plate fabrication was captured by high speed video camera. It was also determined that crystal orientation was evaluated with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy From EDX analysis, the chemical compounds were not changed from powder to fabricated sample. And it was recorded from the powder peaks of α (1011), α (0002), α (1010), and α (1012) that the crystal orientation is composed mainly of martensitic alpha by XRD analysis. Diffraction peaks corresponding to β (110) were detected in vacuum SLM processed samples.