Research on an Online Monitoring Device for the Powder Laying Process of Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Improving the quality of metal additive manufacturing parts requires online monitoring of the powder bed laying procedure during laser powder bed fusion production. In this article, a visual online monitoring tool for flaws in the powder laying process is examined, and machine vision technology is applied to LPBF manufacture. A multiscale improvement and model channel pruning optimization method based on convolutional neural networks is proposed, which makes up for the deficiencies of the defect recognition method of small-scale powder laying, reduces the redundant parameters of the model, and enhances the processing speed of the model under the premise of guaranteeing the accuracy of the model. Finally, we developed an LPBF manufacturing process laying powder defect recognition algorithm. Test experiments show the performance of the method: the minimum size of the detected defects is 0.54 mm, the accuracy rate of the feedback results is 98.63%, and the single-layer laying powder detection time is 3.516 s, which can realize the effective detection and control of common laying powder defects in the additive manufacturing process, avoids the breakage of the scraper, and ensures the safe operation of the LPBF equipment.