By Ilya Mingareev, Tobias Bonhoff, Ashraf F. El-Sherif, Wilhelm Meiners, Ingomar Kelbassa, Tim Biermann and Martin Richardson

Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) is a rapidly developing field of advanced fabrication technologies that will benefit many industries by enabling near-net shape manufacturing of high-value components from metals, ceramics and compound materials. However, the geometry and the surface quality of parts produced by LAM can be significantly affected by heat-induced distortions, solidified melt droplets, partially fused powders, and surface modifications induced by the laser tool motion. The dimensional accuracy is insufficient for many application areas, thus requiring a certain amount of post-processing such as CNC milling and polishing. While efficient for solid and bulk components, conventional post-processing techniques cannot be applied to parts made of brittle, heat-sensitive materials, many multi-layer material systems and components with engineered porosity. Continue reading →