### The Current State of Applicability of Metal Powder Hybrid Manufacturing Processes  
Additive manufacturing has undergone a remarkable evolution over the past years due to the high manufacturing requirements of prototypes and the flexibility to realise different component geometries. It quickly expanded into various areas of modern manufacturing, from parts manufacturing in the automotive industry to parts manufacturing in the defence industry or the medical industry. In addition to the use of polymers and ceramic materials, additive manufacturing also uses metallic materials. There are two groups of metallic materials that can be used, these being metal materials in powder form or metallic materials in wire form. Wire-fed processes such as laser metal deposition (LMD) or electron beam (EBM) are more productive due to a high deposit rate, but the precision and accuracy of form are far inferior compared to additive manufacturing using metal powders, such as selective laser melting (SLM) or direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) [6]. From an economic point of view, the group of processes using metallic materials in the form of wire is significantly more economical compared to the group of processes using powders [7], and at the same time it offers a wide range of alloys of raw material in the form of wire. However, powder-based technological processes can use special materials that are not necessarily found in bulk form. Due to this, and the fact that they offer precision far superior to wire-fed technologies, it follows that additive manufacturing processes using metal powders have a wide range of applicability [8], so they will be further detailed. One of the earliest techniques within additive manufacturing is powder-bed fusion (PBF), a method that constructs products by layering thin slices of powder, sintering them together until the final shape is achieved. This technique utilises either laser or electron beams as the energy source to melt and bond metal particles. Electron beam melting (EBM) particularly necessitates a vacuum, especially when handling reactive metals like titanium or magnesium. Metal powder, stored in a container, is transferred to the processing area for melting, creating thin layers approximately 0.1 mm thick. The bed adjusts for each new layer to maintain a consistent distance between the power source and the object. Residual, unmelted powder remains on the bed and can be reused. EBM technology fabricates metal components layer by layer using a potent, high-vacuum electron beam, enabling the creation of items without internal cavities. The high-power electron beam serves as the energy source for machines utilising EBM technology. Precise control over the beam's energy allows the necessary melting capacity for optimal productivity to be achieved. Controlled by electromagnetic coils and computer guidance, the beam scans the process area to shape the molten layer as desired. Contemporary machines employing electron beams offer the capability to operate multiple melting tanks simultaneously, known as multibeam technology. EBM is a process that can melt and refine metals and alloys under high vacuum conditions and has an excellent refining capacity. It also has a high degree of heat source flexibility, making it suitable for processing resistant and high-temperature re-active metals such as titanium, zirconium, or tungsten. EBM is widely used for producing ultrapure spray materials and recycling titanium waste. This process can generate components with free-form and fully dense surfaces from the target material. The process occurs in a vacuum and at a high temperature, resulting in stress-free components with better material properties than casting, comparable to forged material. Direct laser metal sintering (DMLS) stands as an additive manufacturing method utilising a computer-controlled laser beam to scan and sinter applied powder layers into solid components based on a CAD model.