Patent ID: 11867638
Assignee: LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G  Y | IPC B  G

Claim 10:
11. A system for detecting defects in additively manufactured microlattice parts involving struts, the system comprising:
a laser configured to generate a laser beam for creating a melt pool in a layer of feedstock material being selectively fused to make a part in an additive manufacturing operation;
a pyrometer configured to receive a pyrometry signal reflected from the melt pool along a path co-axial with the laser beam, the pyrometry signal forming a thermal signal indicative of a temperature of the feedstock material at a known location on a layer of the feedstock material, while the feedstock material is in a condition forming the melt pool and being fused at the known location;
a dichroic mirror configured to pass the laser beam through without modification, and to redirect the pyrometry signal from the path coaxial with the laser beam to a path non-parallel to the laser beam; and
a controller responsive to the pyrometer and configured to receive and analyze pyrometry data relating to an intensity of the pyrometry signal over a selected time period, the selected time period being dependent on a size of the strut being created, and the controller further configured to use the pyrometry data to make a statistical prediction, in situ while the part is being formed, to determine if a defect exists at the known location.