Laser powder bed fusion of metals is a technology that makes use of a laser beam to selectively melt metal powder layer-by-layer in order to fabricate complex geometries in high performance materials. The technology is currently transforming aerospace and biomedical manufacturing and its adoption is widening into other industries as well, including automotive, energy, and traditional manufacturing. With an increase in design freedom brought to bear by additive manufacturing, new opportunities are emerging for designs not possible previously and in material systems that now provide sufficient performance to be qualified in end-use mission-critical applications. After decades of research and development, laser powder bed fusion is now enabling a new era of digitally driven manufacturing.
Fundamentals of Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Metals will provide the fundamental principles in a broad range of topics relating to metal laser powder bed fusion. The target audience includes new users, focusing on graduate and undergraduate students; however, this book can also serve as a reference for experienced users as well, including senior researchers and engineers in industry. The current best practices are discussed in detail, as well as the limitations, challenges, and potential research and commercial opportunities moving forward.
Author Biography:
Prof. Igor Yadroitsev is a Research Chair in Medical Product Development through Additive Manufacturing at the Central University of Technology launched by the National Research Foundation of South Africa in 2015. He has been involved in additive manufacturing with emphasis on laser powder bed fusion at the Vitebsk Institution of Technical Acoustics (Belarus) since 1995, when this technology was in its infancy. He continued his research in the field at the National School of Engineering (Saint-Étienne, France) and published a book on selective laser melting in 2009. His research interests include applied optics and laser technologies: additive manufacturing, laser powder bed fusion of metals and plastics, laser processing, materials science, and optics. He has authored over 100 articles in the field of laser powder bed fusion. Dr. Ina Yadroitsava, PhD, has been involved in additive manufacturing since 2007 when she started to work in the Laboratory of Diagnostics and Engineering of Industrial Processes at the National School of Engineering (Saint-Étienne, France). At present, she is working as Senior Researcher at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the Central University of Technology, Free State. In 2019, she was recognized by the South Africa National Research Foundation as an established researcher in such areas as laser metal additive manufacturing, advanced materials and numerical modeling. Her research interests include laser powder bed fusion, material characterization, bio-medical applications, and properties of advanced additively manufactured materials. Prof. Anton Du Plessis is Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Applications Scientist at Object Research Systems (Canada). His research spans X-ray tomography applications, additive manufacturing and engineering materials. He has published over 150 journal papers and is on the editorial board of a number of journals, and acts as deputy editor of Additive Manufacturing Letters and editor in chief of Tomography of Materials and Structures. He holds extraordinary professor positions at Nelson Mandela University and Central University of Technology (South Africa). Prof. Eric MacDonald, PhD, is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Murchison Chair at the University of Texas at El Paso, as well as deputy editor of the Elsevier journal 'Additive Manufacturing'. Dr. MacDonald received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and has worked in industry for 12 years at IBM and Motorola, and subsequently co-founded a start-up — Pleiades, Inc., which was acquired by Magma Inc. (San Jose, CA) in 2003. Dr. MacDonald has held faculty fellowships at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SPAWAR Navy Research (San Diego), and a State Department Fulbright Fellowship in South America. His research interests include 3D-printed multi-functional applications and advanced process monitoring in additive manufacturing.
