AM BAG

The standard access mode does not make the best use of the growth in popularity of in-situ and operando AM research at ESRF. Setting-up and tearing-down these platforms multiple times per year is an inefficient use of beamtime, and would drastically limit overall exposure of the metal AM community to advanced X-ray science. In addition, the technical logistics of performing a successful, synchronised dynamic manufacturing experiment are not yet standardised – new users would see an enormous experience gap under the current access model (in case they have access to the equipment), which would both demotivate and delay time to publication. Furthermore, maintaining and handling sophisticated installations such as LPBF or DED set-ups cannot be carried out by the ESRF beamline staff alone. Thus, only leaving the machine at the beamline is not an option.

The study of dynamic laser processing behaviour requires specific time and length scales with proper calibration and synchronization of, at least, the manufacturing and imaging systems. For these reasons, there is significant overhead involved with the setup and calibration of in-situ and operando AM equipment and supporting diagnostics (infrared cameras, acoustic systems, etc.). Experience from the previous LTPs has shown that full setup can take up to an entire day, involving a team of at least 4 people full-time.

The AM BAG proposed to consolidate the community of researchers interested in real-time subsurface imaging of dynamic AM process phenomena. The AM BAG will enable sharing of equipment, personnel, and expertise, and will coordinate use of beamtime to improve efficiency and to lower the barrier for new researchers. Hence, it will allow for the community to fully exploit the benefits of the EBS source, i.e. ultra-high speed X-ray imaging using synchrotron light to study laser processing of materials. Moreover, efficient workflows for 2D+t and 3D+t image analysis are essential to expedite data processing and extract meaningful quantitative information from the experiments. Informatic tools will be developed and shared with the community to automate and standardize the evaluation of large datasets generated in experiments.

Two beamlines are involved in the AM BAG, ID19 and BM05. For operando AM using fast radiography ID19 is used, while BM05 was selected for in-situ tomography of the AM process. The AM BAG has regular access to ID19 and BM05 depending on the AM rig which is going to be installed.

In the period 2025-2027, the following experiments will be conducted:

2025/I – ID19 – LPBF rig

2025/II – ID19 – DED rig

2026/I – BM05 – LPBF rig (depending on continuation approval)

2026/QII – ID19 – LPBF rig

Some characteristics of available techniques and platforms:

• Operando radiography LBPF rig:
  • Developed by PSI
  • 500W continuous wave fiber laser with a wavelength of 1070 nm, delivering a collimated parallel Gaussian beam (Ø9.6 mm at 1/e²).
  • Minimum spot size of 25 µm though 2-axis Superscan III (Raylase) deflection unit.
  • Dynamic adjustment of the effective laser beam diameter up to 250 µm.
  • Scanning speed up to 2 m/s.
  • Option to add sensors, e.g. optical or air-borne
  • Inline camera for laser alignment and observation of the power bed
  • Small printing chamber of 122 × 135 × 40 mm³, housing a 12 × 12 mm² build area.
  • The chamber can be flushed with inert gases or N2
  • Powder feeder enables the creation of intricate structures within a maximum volume of 12 × 12 × 10 mm³.
  • Setup mounted on a one-circle segment, providing a ±20-degree tilt capability, enhancing flexibility in experimental setups.
  • For in situ radiography experiments, various sample geometries can be accommodated. For instance, a thin substrate can be positioned between two glassy carbon plates with a layer of powder deposited on top. Alternatively, larger components can be printed, and the radiography experiments can be conducted by tilting the device to focus on an area near an edge where the sample thickness allows sufficient X-ray transmission
  • For more information, see de Formanoir, C. et al. Additive Manufacturing, 79, 2024 and Yang, J. et al. Additive Manufacturing, 84, (2024)

• Operando radiography DED rig:
  • Developed by UCL
  • Technical name: Blown powder Additive Manufacturing Process Replicator (BAMPR-II). Second generation.
  • 500W continuous wave laser, 1080nm wavelength.
  • Adjustable spot size between 200 µm and 800 µm at a working distance of 200mm from final optical element.
  • A high-precision 6-axis robotic arm manipulates the sample, scan speeds up to 20 mm/s.
  • Concentrical powder stream blow system TWIN-10-C Powder Feeder, in a carrier stream of Argon.
  • Controlled atmosphere of Argon in a glove box environment.
  • Small antechamber for rapid specimen changing whilst maintaining atmosphere.
  • For more information, see UCL equipment, Zhang, K. et al. Nature Communications, 9, (2024)

• In-situ tomography LPBF rig:
  • Developed by SIMAP
  • Two main components: Laser and scan head, and build chamber that allows to collect X-ray tomographies (XCTs) at key stages of the process.
  • 1000W mono mode fiber laser source of 1072nm wavelength.
  • Focal lenght of the scanning head : 340mm.
  • Adjustable spot size. Minimum spot size 45 µm.
  • Scanning speed up to 2.5 m/s.
  • Argon atmosphere. Oxygen content up to 100ppm.
  • Built high up to 4mm using a rotating rake.
  • For more information see, Lhuissier, P. et al. Additive Manufacturing, 34, (2020), Lhuissier, P. et al. Review of Scientific Instruments, 93, (2022), and Varoto, L., et al. Scripta Materialia, 242, (2024).

• IMDEA Materials Institute, Spain (Federico Sket)
• Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland (Steven Van Petegem)
• University College London, United Kindom (Peter Lee)
• INP Grenoble - CNRS - UGA Laboratoire SIMAP, France (Pierre Lhuissier, Luc Salvo)
• German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for Metals and Hybrid Materials, Germany (Guillermo Requena, Katrin Bugelnig)
• RMIT University, Center for Additive Manufacturing, Australia (Mark Easton, Yunhui Chen)
• Technische Universitaet Ilmenau, Production Technology Group, Germany (Jean Pierre Bergman)
• Brandenburg University of Technology, Germany (Klaus Schricker)
• Universitaet Gh Kassel, Institut fuer Werkstofftechnik, Germany (Thomas Niendorf)
• University of Manchester, United Kingdom (Philip Withers)

All research conducted through the AM-BAG is purely fundamental and lacks any direct military applications.

As a partner of the BAG, you agree to follow the standard ESRF rules (safety, sample declaration, GDPR, travel rules, data policy, ...).

Useful links:

https://www.esrf.fr/home/UsersAndScience/esrf-user-policies-and-rules.html

https://www.esrf.fr/UsersAndScience/UserGuide/Publications

In particular, for each publication, please :

•  Mention the beamline on which you obtained data (ID19 or BM05), the BAG program and acknowledge the assistance from ESRF staff. You can use a sentence such as:

“We acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities and we would like to thank [xyz] for assistance in using beamline ID19 (proposal MA-6233, Advanced synchrotron imaging for accelerating additive manufacturing development - AM BAG).”

•  Successful proposals will benefit from the use of established platforms and diagnostics, and support from the AM BAG consortia in planning, designing, and conducting experiments. It is expected that these contributions are acknowledged through active involvement in the dissemination of results by means of co-writing articles and consequently co-authorship, where appropriate.
   
• Mention the DOI for the data measured at ESRF (beginning with "10.15151/") that is sent via email at the end of each experiment session to all participants of the session. It is also available from the Data Portal and User Portal for that session.
   
•  Cite the ESRF's address (in the case of an ESRF author) as follows: ESRF, The European Synchrotron, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
   
•  Remember to register your publication in the Joint ESRF/ILL library database. Register directly through this link, or by sending an email with the publication reference to the ESRF Library.
   
•  Send your author version to the Joint ESRF/ILL Library administrator in case your publication is not Open Access.

The AM BAG coordination panel consists of:

• Federico Sket, IMDEA Materials, Spain. AM BAG Chair
• Yunhui Chen, RMIT University, Australia. AM BAG Co-Chair
• Steven Van Petegem, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland (Steven Van Petegem). Operando X-ray radiography LPBF rig spokesperson
• Peter Lee, University College London, United Kingdom. Operando X-ray radiography DED rig spokesperson
• Pierre Lhuissier, INP Grenoble - CNRS - UGA Laboratoire SIMAP, France. In-situ X-ray tomography LPBF rig spokesperson
• ESRF liaison: Alexander Rack

The AM BAG coordinators can be reached via ambag-coordinators@esrf.fr