Multi-wavelength pyrometry as an in situ diagnostic tool in metal additive manufacturing: Detecting sintering and liquid phase transitions in electron beam powder bed fusion

Abstract

Radiation thermometry techniques have been implemented to measure thermal signatures in powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM), including the use of imaging devices with a large field of view, to measure large areas of the powder bed with spatial discrimination, and those considered single spot devices that measure signatures from a small region. Traditionally, these techniques can be categorized as single-color (brightness) or two-color (ratio) pyrometry; imaging devices are single-color while spot devices can be either. Both techniques can be used to infer a target temperature using a priori knowledge of the emissivity or employing the graybody assumption of constant emissivity across the spectrum. However, the dynamics of PBF AM, where a concentrated heat source is employed to selectively melt powder material, lead to complex material phase transitions under non-equilibrium solidification conditions. This makes it challenging to measure accurate thermal signatures because the emissivity of the target is also constantly varying as the PBF process unfolds. In this work, we employed an established technique of multi-wavelength pyrometry in an electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) system to continuously measure temperatures and the thermal emissive behavior during sintering and melting of an Inconel 625 powder that was subjected to preheating by direct scanning with the electron beam. The measurements displayed distinctive changes in signal strength or emissivity (in the wavelength range between 1080 nm and 1640 nm) that indicated the material phase change from loose to sintered powder to molten material and finally to solidified material; these changes in signal strength/emissivity were correlated with electron microscopy observations. This work highlights the suitability of multi-wavelength (MW) pyrometry as an in situ diagnostic tool to identify thermal process signatures (i.e., absolute temperatures), and the radiative emissive behavior of the materials being processed. Several demonstrations of the use of this MW pyrometry technique as a diagnostic tool are provided, illustrating its ability to sense signal strength/emissivity differences as the material experiences changes due to its temperature, phase, morphology, and chemistry. Although spatial and temporal improvements in the technique can be pursued, the sensitivity of the approach is demonstrated, as an example, in the ability to capture the passing thermal wavefronts arising from the scanning electron beam. It is anticipated that this technique and the information it provides can be leveraged in the development of advanced techniques for thermal monitoring and process control in PBF.