In Situ, Nondestructive Inspection During Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Parts Navy STTR FY2015.A Sol No.: Navy STTR FY2015.A Topic No.: N15A-T008 Topic Title: In Situ, Nondestructive Inspection During Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Parts Proposal No.: N15A-008-0032 Firm: Applied Optimization, Inc. 714 E Monument Ave Ste 204 Dayton, Ohio 45402 Contact: Anil Chaudhary Phone: (937) 431-5100 Abstract: The research objective of this proposal is to demonstrate feasibility to collect and interpret in situ 3-D surface data for the laser sintered top surface for each layer in a powder bed process. The 3-D data collection will be performed with no interference with the operational efficiency and build time for the powder bed process. The 3-D data will be utilized to compute the distributions of surface roughness and top layer thickness. Physics-based models will be utilized to compute the nominal values for layer thickness, rewetting depth and build distortion. The measured 3-D data will be interpreted in real time in order to flag the potential regions for build anomalies that include build porosity, lack of fusion and build distortion. Statistical hypothesis testing will be utilized in order to assess the probability of false alarm. Deposition trials will be designed for alloy Ti-6Al-4V with the goal to collect and process the 3-D surface data and to verify the flagged locations for build anomalies using CT scan data. Benefits: Three benefits are anticipated: (1) Provide ongoing evidence for the evolution of 3-D top surface geometry on a layer-by-layer basis; (2) Provide assessment of potential anomaly locations in real time so that any defects could be healed before they are buried under additional layers of deposit; (3) Create calibration data for physics-based models. The commercial application will be a data interpretation system for real time flagging of anomalies using in situ 3-D top surface data for each layer. Return