“Currently, the additive manufacturing process involves a lot of trial and error in order to get the right operating parameters,” said Mark Cola, CEO and president of Sigma Labs. “Companies use their best judgment and past experience, but new materials, new shapes, and new parts offer production challenges and the new Sigma Labs sensor technology could help reduce development time.
“Additive manufacturing typically involves lasers scanning over a layer of powder, melting it, and building up the part layer by layer. To know precisely when the laser is putting in just the right amount of energy into the powder layer – not too much and not too little – so that the layer is completely melted without overheating it is very important,” he affirmed.
“Our new sensor and data analysis invention helps to accomplish just that – determine optimal coupling between the laser and the powders.”
