Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference - MAMC 2026

10 Nov 2026, 08:00 → 12 Nov 2026, 18:00 Europe/Vienna

Arcotel Wimberger

Gerhard Hackl (ASMET)

ASMET, the Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials, invites decision-makers, engineers, developers, industry experts, scientists and students to the 9th Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference with exclusive focus on the processing of metals.

Topics:

• Powder for MAM
• Systems & Equipments for MAM
• Additive Design & Engineering
• Laser Melting, Electron Beam Melting & Direct Energy Deposition Processes
• Sinter based MAM processes
• Process- and Quality Control & Sustainability
• Post-processing of AM parts
• Tools, Space and Aircraft, Automotive, Medical and others
• Recent Research Topics

Tuesday 10 November

09:00 Registration

10:15 Opening

Plenary Talk: Plenary Talks

1 From Prototype to Profit: The European Metal AM Landscape in 2026

Europe's metal additive manufacturing sector has spent a decade proving what's technically possible. The harder question now is what's commercially viable — and that question is reshaping the industry faster than any new alloy or machine architecture.

Drawing on 18 years in the AM sector, insight into 3,000+ scouted startups, and direct involvement in 40+ financing rounds on both the investor and operator side, this talk traces the path from prototype to profit across Europe's Metal AM landscape: which technologies have crossed from R&D into repeatable production, which business models are converting capital into revenue rather than burning through it, and where genuine economic traction is emerging versus where the narrative has outrun the numbers.

The talk closes with a forward view on where European players are best positioned to compete globally, particularly in high-value applications and what it will take to convert technical leadership into commercial leadership.

Speaker: Arno Held (AM Ventures)

2 The progress of Metal Additive Manufacturing in China

Over the past three decades, China has achieved remarkable progress in additive manufacturing (AM), both in academic research and industrial applications. This presentation will first provide an overview of the current state of AM in China, covering publication outputs, patent portfolios, major publicly listed companies etc. The main focus will then be placed on the technological advancements in laser powder bed fusion, laser directed energy deposition, and wire‑arc directed energy deposition, with brief mentions of other processes. Finally, several recently emerging metal AM technologies will also be introduced before the conclusion and perspective parts.

Speaker: Prof. Ke Huang (Xi'an Jiaotong University)

3 Latest Developments: Powder Metallurgy - Special Steels - Titanium

The speech will focus on the developments of Powder Metallurgical Steels and especially its associated production technologies like HIP, MIM and AM. The presentation will also highlight the actual supply and demand situation of metal powders and the manufactured metal powder steels, will introduce leading manufacturers of both powders and steels, and summarizes installed capacity and new capacity. The presentation will also highlight the recent developments in the world of Special Steels, remelted steels and titanium as well as will give an overview about end-user demand and structures of these special materials and summarize the actual status of installations today and tomorrow on a global scale.

Speaker: Benedikt Blitz (SMR Premium GmbH)

12:00 Business Lunch

AM of Refractory Metals - Highlight Session

4 Additive Manufacturing of Refractory Metals – Status, Challenges, and Outlook

Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a powerful processing route for a wide range of materials. However, for refractory metals (RM), especially for Mo, W and their alloys, its implementation remains particularly challenging because of their unique combination of properties. Very high melting points, low-temperature brittleness, strong sensitivity to impurities, and high thermal conductivity combined with AM-technology specific features, such as a high cooling rate above 106 K/s for laser beam-based methods or deformation during sintering for sinter-based AM techniques, require extensive research to make AM of RM work.

This plenary contribution presents an overview of recent developments, key challenges, and industrial perspectives in the field. Processing routes, including beam-based technologies such as Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam (PBF-LB/M) and electron beam methods, as well as indirect approaches based on shaping and sintering, are compared regarding processability, material response, and achievable properties.

The talk concludes by highlighting emerging applications, current technological trends, and future opportunities, with particular emphasis on the potential of AM to enable novel component architectures and to support more sustainable high-performance materials engineering.

Speaker: Dr Bernhard Mayr-Schmoelzer (Plansee SE)

5 Additive Manufacturing of Molybdenum: Defect Mechanisms and Alloying Strategy for Fully Dense and Crack-free Molybdenum Parts by PBF-LB/M

Molybdenum is a difficult-to-weld metal that, when processed by Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam (PBF-LB/M) is prone to cracking and residual porosity. This presentation addresses the crucial role of oxygen impurities driving the formation of such defects and the beneficial effects that can be exploited by utilizing carbon as an alloying element.
The effects of these two elements on manufacturing temperature, solidification mechanism, and grain boundary strength, are discussed. It was found that oxygen is responsible for the cracks in PBF-LB of molybdenum regardless of the processing temperature. Alloying molybdenum with 0.45 wt.% carbon diminishes the detrimental effects of oxygen by three effects: Firstly, outgassing of carbon monoxide, secondly by enabling grain refinement through supercooling of the melt and therefore increasing the grain boundary surface area and thirdly, by trapping oxygen impurities within the semi-coherent molybdenum carbide. The hardening effects of the finely dispersed carbide network must be countered by utilizing a substrate temperature of 800 °C to prevent cold cracking. The herein presented alloying and processing strategies enable Mo-0.45 wt.% C to be PBF-LB/M-manufactured free of cracks.

Speaker: Dr Jakob Braun (Universität Innsbruck)

6 MoC0.4 – From Lab to Industry in PBF-LB of C-alloyed Molybdenum

By processing carbon-alloyed molybdenum (MoC0.4) using Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam (PBF-LB) a unique fine-grained microstructure is achieved. This microstructure is characterized by molybdenum grains containing a subgrain structure of molybdenum cells embedded in a nanometer-sized Mo2C matrix. This material yields promising mechanical and physical properties, comparable to those of conventionally manufactured TZM, a widely used molybdenum alloy, even at elevated temperatures up to 1600 °C.

While these properties have initially been demonstrated at laboratory scale, transferring the process to an industrial environment presents significant challenges, including the need for customized PBF-LB systems and adapted process parameters such as elevated build plate temperatures. By utilizing a tailored PBF-LB setup, the reproducibility of laboratory-scale results at industrial scale can be successfully achieved.

The combination of enhanced material performance and the design freedom offered by additive manufacturing makes MoC0.4 a promising candidate for high-temperature applications, particularly for structural components operating above 1000 °C. Consequently, MoC0.4 represents a key enabler for the next generation of high-tech refractory metal components in industrial applications.

Speaker: Benedikt Distl (Plansee SE)

7 Additive Manufacturing of Tungsten: Challenges and Solutions in Laser PBF

Enabling additive manufacturing of tungsten (W) for components with properties that match or surpass those of conventionally manufactured powder metallurgical (PM) W parts is currently one of the greatest challenges in alloy and process development for PBF LB/M. For W, rapid solidification under steep thermal gradients typically produces coarse, columnar grains and high residual stresses, which drive cracking and limit performance. Notably, even compared to molybdenum (Mo), a material with closely related chemical and physical properties, W is more difficult to process with PBF LB/M due to its higher melting point, greater tendency for columnar growth, and higher cracking susceptibility under typical PBF LB/M thermal cycles. These factors indicate that process tuning alone is insufficient. W requires alloy design tailored to the unique characteristics of the PBF LB/M process.
In this presentation, we identify the major defect initiation mechanisms and investigate alloying strategies aimed at counteracting defect formation by promoting grain refinement to disrupt columnar growth and by purifying grain boundaries from embrittling impurities to suppress crack initiation. Both the theoretical rationale and experimental results are presented.

Speaker: Prof. Lukas Kaserer (Universität Innsbruck)

8 Optimizing Additive Manufacturing of Niobium: A Pathway to Advancing Superconducting Technologies

Additive manufacturing of metals holds significant potential to drive breakthroughs in various technological fields. For example, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) presents a pathway for fabricating topology-optimized superconducting cavities without weld seams or constraints imposed by traditional machining processes. These cavities are critical components in one of the most advanced quantum computer architectures currently under development based on superconducting qbits. For this particular application, the refractory metal niobium (Nb) emerges as the material of choice due to its exceptional superconducting properties, including the highest critical temperature of all elemental metals. Despite its unique characteristics, the PBF-LB processing of Nb has received limited attention from the scientific community, as its applications remain relatively niche. This study focuses on the parameter optimization for laser-based additive manufacturing of this rather exotic material, starting from single-line experiments. The effects of energy input and novel non-Gaussian laser beam intensity profiles on material density, microstructure, and superconducting properties are investigated. Preliminary data suggest higher‑than‑anticipated microwave quality factors in PBF‑LB–fabricated cavities. To further enhance the superconducting performance by addressing the inherent challenges of elevated oxygen and nitrogen levels in PBF-LB produced components, the study explores the addition of yttrium (Y), a potent oxygen getter. Although Nb, unlike other refractory metals such as tungsten or molybdenum, exhibits a certain solubility for oxygen and, as a result, does not exhibit comparably weak grain boundaries and high susceptibility to cracking, the presence of oxygen is nevertheless undesirable as it impairs the conductivity of the material. By binding interstitial impurities, Y aims to purify the Nb matrix and enhance the material's superconducting performance. The findings contribute to advancing the understanding of the additive manufacturing of Nb for next-generation superconducting technologies.

Speaker: Daniel Pattis (University of Innsbruck)

15:20 Coffee Break

Laser Melting, Electron Beam Melting & Direct Deposition Processes

9 Development of a Novel Hybrid Wire–Powder DED-Arc Plasma System for Fabrication of Low Carbon Steel/TiC Metal Matrix Composites

This study presents the development and optimization of a novel hybrid wire–powder Plasma Arc Directed Energy Deposition (DED) process for the fabrication of metal matrix composites (MMCs). The system integrates an auxiliary powder feeder into a conventional wire-based plasma DED setup, enabling the simultaneous deposition of a mild steel wire matrix and TiC ceramic powder reinforcement.

A design of experiments (DOE) was performed to optimize key powder feeding parameters, including carrier gas flow rate and nozzle diameter, using single-track depositions. Low-carbon steel was used as the substrate and wire (matrix) material, while TiC powder was used as the reinforcement particles. The optimized parameters were subsequently applied to fabricate multi-layer wall structures with varying TiC reinforcement contents under different thermal conditions, both with and without substrate preheating.

Metallographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and image-based density measurements were used to evaluate reinforcement distribution, defect formation, interface quality, and TiC retention. Depositions without preheating exhibited cracking, porosity, and particle agglomeration resulting from steep thermal gradients. Substrate preheating significantly improved particle distribution and reduced cracking and porosity by lowering thermal stresses. Furthermore, a layer-staggering strategy comprising four hybrid layers followed by a single wire-only layer improved wall integrity by mitigating residual stress.

The results demonstrate the feasibility of hybrid wire–powder Plasma Arc DED for MMC fabrication and identify thermal management and reinforcement distribution strategies as critical factors for achieving defect-free multi-layer structures. The successful integration of wire and powder feedstocks within a single Plasma Arc DED process represents a significant step toward flexible, compositionally tailored, and functionally graded MMC manufacturing, unlocking new possibilities for advanced engineering applications.

Speaker: Ziad Mohamed (Chair of Materials Engineering of Additive Manufacturing, Technical University of Munich)

10 Application of Blue Laser in Additive Manufacturing and Laser Processing of Reflective Metals

Processing of highly reflective metals such as copper and gold remains a significant challenge in laser-based additive manufacturing due to low absorption at infrared wavelengths, leading to process instabilities, excessive spatter, and defect formation. Recent advances in high-power blue laser sources offer a promising alternative, as these materials exhibit substantially higher absorption in the blue wavelength regime. In this study, the application of blue laser irradiation for the processing of reflective metals is investigated with a focus on process stability and defect mitigation. The results demonstrate a more stable melt pool behavior compared to conventional infrared laser processing, characterized by reduced spatter generation and a lower tendency for defect formation. Improved energy coupling enables consistent melting and smoother material consolidation, highlighting the potential of blue lasers to overcome long-standing limitations associated with reflective materials in additive manufacturing. Overall, the findings indicate that blue laser technology represents a promising pathway for enhancing process reliability and material quality in the additive manufacturing of copper, gold, and other highly reflective metals.

Speaker: Dr Hossein Ghasemi (Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne)

11 Embedding Fiber-Optic Sensors in Metallic Components via LPBF for In-Situ Fuel Cell Diagnostics

Fuel cells (FCs) represent a key technology for sustainable hydrogen-based energy systems, with proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) offering high efficiency and suitability for mobility and stationary applications. However, their performance and durability are strongly influenced by local inhomogeneities such as uneven humidification, temperature gradients, and transient flooding within the flow field. Conventional diagnostic approaches remain limited in providing spatially resolved, multi-parameter in-situ data without interfering with electrochemical operation.
This work presents the development of a functional additively manufactured component with embedded sensing, realized as a smart bipolar plate (SBP) fabricated via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). The approach enables the integration of fiber-optic sensors directly into stainless steel structures through controlled process interruptions and tailored scan strategies. Key manufacturing challenges include the realization of thin-walled geometries, internal capillary channels, and distortion-sensitive structures requiring optimized LPBF parameter sets and chessboard scan strategies to ensure part integrity.
The LPBF process was specifically optimized to achieve hydrogen-tight and mechanically robust bipolar plates, which was experimentally validated using helium leak testing at representative operating pressures. Embedded fiber-optic sensors based on Fiber Bragg Gratings enable temperature and strain measurements, while laser-cut optical fibers provide robust relative humidity sensing based on evanescent field interaction.
Post-processing and electron-beam-based Cr/Au coating were applied to improve corrosion resistance and electrical performance. The resulting SBP was successfully validated in a PEM fuel cell single-cell testbed, demonstrating reliable sensor integration with the membrane, accurate multi-parameter measurements, and mechanical stability under realistic operating conditions.
The presented approach demonstrates the feasibility of combining LPBF manufacturing with embedded sensing, enabling next-generation functional metal AM components with integrated diagnostics for hydrogen and energy applications.

Speaker: Markus Reiter (AVL List GmbH)

12 Phase Transformation Kinetics and Lattice Parameter Evolution in LPBF Ti-6Al-4V: An In-Situ Synchrotron Study

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) of Ti-6Al-4V produces a characteristic non-equilibrium microstructure dominated by acicular α′ martensite due to high cooling rates inherent to the process. Recent studies have demonstrated the effect of build orientation on the thermal expansion of the as-printed Ti-6Al-4V. The observed expansion was partitioned into an isotropic reversible thermal strain and an anisotropic irreversible transformation strain. The latter is associated to the crystallographic texture evolving during the solidification to β phase and subsequent β → α′ phase transformation. However, the underlying mechanisms at the microscopic scale as well as the influence of heating rate during the post processing remain insufficiently characterized.

In this study, in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments were performed on LPBF-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V specimens to investigate the phase transformation behavior and the lattice parameter evolution during heating with rates of 10 Ks-1, 100 Ks-1 and 500 Ks-1 up to 1200°C.
Therefore, vertically and horizontally built specimens were analyzed to assess the influence of the build orientation.

The experimental results indicate that the evolution of the lattice parameters and the phase transformation kinetics are independent of the applied heating rates. Furthermore, the phase transformation kinetics and lattice evolution for both printing directions show similar behavior. Finally, the phase transformation mechanisms during heating and cooling are discussed.

Speaker: F Friso (Institute of Materials and Process Engineering, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland)

13 Hybrid L-PBF Scanning Strategies for Additively Manufactured Ultra Thin-Walled Ti-6Al-4V TPMS Implants

Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) structures have the potential to effectively tune the mechanical stiffness of orthopedic implants to mitigate stress shielding. To achieve the requisite low modulus, lattice wall thicknesses must approach the physical limits of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF). While existing literature predominantly evaluates process parameters for walls thicker than 0.3 mm, a critical gap remains in fabricating sub-0.3 mm features and transferring parameters optimized on simple thin-walled specimens to complex TPMS structures.
This study evaluates the transferability of L-PBF scanning strategies across a 0.10-0.50 mm thickness spectrum in Ti-6Al-4V. We compared five strategies: a standard strategy optimized for bulk parts, contour-only, hatch-only, and two strategies optimized for thin-walled parts. Results show that the bulk strategy caused severe over-melting and dimensional inaccuracy in ultra-thin walls. Although the contour-only and thin-walled optimized strategies yielded high dimensional accuracy with deviations lower than 10%, contour-only strategy exhibited significant lack of fusion (LoF) porosity of up to 6%. The most effective baseline for simple walls was achieved using thin-walled strategy for thicknesses below 0.35 mm and bulk strategy for thicker sections, ensuring minimal porosity and high geometric fidelity.
However, applying these parameters to gyroid structures revealed that complex geometry significantly influences defect formation. Micro-CT analysis identified LoF porosity concentrated specifically at overhanging wall intersections, where the projected cross-section becomes artificially thicker. Quasi-static compression testing revealed a decrease in mechanical properties with increasing porosity rate, with overall mechanical performance falling below finite element analysis predictions. Based on these findings, we propose a hybrid strategy. Applying thin-wall optimized parameters exclusively to the border contours to preserve geometric accuracy, and assigning standard bulk parameters to the internal hatching to fully densify the thicker intersections. This approach offers a readily implementable path to eliminating geometry-driven defects and maximizing the mechanical reliability of ultra thin-walled TPMS implants.

Speaker: Karel Brulík (Brno University of Technology)

Sinter based MAM Processes

14 Photolithographically manufactured components made of stainless steel and copper – A comparison of the processes

Additive manufacturing using photolithography has now reached a level of technical development that enables the achievement of superior mechanical and physical properties. To achieve these properties, the specific characteristics of the materials—particularly their thermodynamic properties—must be taken into account. Common to both systems is the necessity of quantitatively removing the carbon, which is introduced into the system in large quantities as a processing aid, in order to achieve good properties. For stainless steels, thermal debinding in air has proven effective here, utilizing the stability of the surface oxide layer of the powders to prevent the introduction of additional oxygen, which is also undesirable. Low residual carbon levels can then be removed during the sintering process through reaction with the oxides. Excess oxygen is ultimately removed by the atmosphere (H2). With copper, however, debinding with air has not proven effective, as this leads to a significant increase in oxygen content. From a thermodynamic perspective, this oxygen is easily reducible with H2; however, when sintering copper, care must be taken to ensure that pore closing does not occur prior to the reduction processes, as this would otherwise cause blowing of the components
Solutions for both materials are presented and compared in this paper, and the specific characteristics of the debinding and sintering processes are discussed.

Speaker: Prof. Christian Gierl-Mayer (TU Wien)

15 Multiphysics Modeling of Shell Printing in Binder-Jetted 17-4PH Stainless Steel

Shell printing represents as an alternative binder jetting strategy in which binder is only applied to the outer shell, while the core region remains binder-free. Experiments on shell printed 17-4PH stainless steels showed reduced sintering anisotropy due to elimination of the process-induced layer-wise porosity in the core. In this work, we developed a multiphysics modeling framework to study the interlayer pore formation in the shell and the particle packing during shell printing as well as the subsequent sintering behavior. The former was realized by coupled computational fluid dynamics- discrete element method simulations to analyze the binder infiltration and the binder-driven particle rearrangement during printing. The resulted powder packing was implemented in the kinetic Monte Carlo Potts simulation to study the sintering behavior in the shell, core, and at the shell-core interfaces. The good agreement between the simulated and experimentally obtained microstructure confirms the validity of the framework.

Speaker: Mr Ziping Sang (Institute of Applied Powder Metallurgy and Ceramics at RWTH Aachen e. V. (IAPK), 52062 Aachen, Germany)

16 Feedstock Roller Formation in Lithography-based Metal Manufacturing

Lithography-based Metal Manufacturing is a sinter-based metal additive manufacturing process well-known for producing small parts with complex, intricate designs. The feedstock, when melted and scraped off by a heated coating blade, takes on a roller shape as it is moved towards the build platform. A stable roller formation is essential for uniform coating, resulting in homogeneous, defect-free green parts. The formation of a stable roller requires a fine balance among viscous forces, surface tension, and gravity. While surface tension and gravitational forces depend on temperature and feedstock density, respectively, viscosity depends on factors such as shear rate, temperature, packing fraction, powder size, and morphology. This work investigates the working principle of the feedstock roller formation for pure copper, which can be extended to other materials as well. A basic understanding of these principles is essential to avoid trial-and-error in various metal systems, where material wastage is expensive and undesirable.

Speaker: Atul Anand (TU Wien)

17 Sinter-based Additive Manufacturing of Stainless Steel – Debinding and Sintering Strategies for FFF and LMM Samples

Sinter-based additive processes, such as lithography-based metal manufacturing (LMM) and fused filament fabrication (FFF), enable properties and design possibilities that cannot be manufactured any other way. The final geometrical precision of LMM is strongly affected by the viscosity of the used feedstock. In the printing process, the feedstock viscosity is directly connected to the roller behaviour and effect the quality of printing. Additionally, light penetration depth for photopolymerization limits the layer thickness. The viscosity of the feedstock at elevated temperatures in the decaking and cleaning step decides whether channels can be cleaned or not. All those requirements extend the development of feedstocks enormously and leads to a time- and material-consuming feedstock development process. On the other hand, FFF is especially limited by the nozzle size. The post processing of both techniques includes debinding and sintering to achieve final part characteristics and to control the microstructure. Complete removal of the binder system, good green strength, handling after debinding and a low shrinkage pushes to high loadings. Realizing low carbon contents and avoiding very long heat treatments is challenging. Here solvent debinding allows to speed up the thermal debinding by removing the dissolvable binder components beforehand.

In this work, a comparison of both techniques especially for the post treatment in debinding and sintering is evaluated.

Speaker: Alexander Holzer (TU Wien)

17:30 Welcome Reception

Wednesday 11 November

MAM in the Defense Sector - Highlight Session: Industry Perspective

18 Additive Manufacturing at Airbus Defence and Space - A way to secure part availability in the military aerospace domain

..coming soon..

Speaker: Mr David Schimbäck (Airbus Defense & Space)

19 Decentralized Metal and Polymer Additive Manufacturing: An Integrated Framework for On-Demand Sustainment in Defense Applications

The escalating threat of High-Intensity Conflict (HIC) and the increasing fragility of global supply chains pose existential risks to modern defense readiness. Traditional centralized logistics models are increasingly inadequate for contested environments, where supply chain interdiction is a constant threat. To address this strategic vulnerability,
Airbus DS proposes a decentralized manufacturing framework centered on on-site minifactories.These modular units function as autonomous production assets by integrating additive manufacturing with critical post-processing and testing capabilities, ensuring a complete and self-contained manufacturing cycle.

Moving beyond conventional additive workflows, this approach establishes a holistic, endto-end (E2E) ecosystem designed to maximize asset availability and operational endurance during active missions. The framework integrates three vital pillars: a Digital Spare Parts Catalog for the on-demand production of certified components;
specialized Battle Damage Repair (BDR) guidelines for rapid field interventions; and real-time industrial technical support, enabling remote expert oversight of complex manufacturing processes. This approach ensures that while standard components meet rigorous certification standards, repair procedures are optimized to restore immediate combat readiness in high-pressure scenarios. By transitioning from a "stockpile-based" to
a "digital-inventory-based" model, this capability significantly reduces the logistical footprint and mitigates the impact of supply disruptions.

In essence, this integrated approach transforms logistics from a vulnerability into a responsive operational enabler, enhancing the mission sustainment and combat effectiveness of defense forces through localized manufacturing.

Speaker: Dr Juan Carlos Redondo (Airbus Defense and Space)

20 Investigations of the Applicability of Wire-arc Additive Manufacturing for Spare Part Production and Repair in the Context of Battlefield Repair

The rapid repair of damaged military equipment is often essential for the sustainment of operational capabilities. Whenever the damage is beyond repair and logistics are not ready to deliver spare parts in reasonable time, the manufacturing of crucial spare parts near the battlefield is offering a suitable solution. Additive manufacturing has been instigated and tested for these purposes successfully in recent years. While the utilisation of polymer based AM equipment was shown successfully both by stationary as well as mobile equipment, the deployable manufacturing of metal parts by AM is still under development.
Our investigations focused on resembling an in-field repair activity using wire-arc additive manufacturing. In this matter we designed and manufactured a generic, half-sized sprocket wheel derived from military tracked vehicles.
The first activity of this research was to define an efficient build strategy of this design. Two main variations were considered in detail: firstly, the one-step approach from the one outer diameter to the other side; secondly, the generation of a left and right half mirrored by a symmetric plane, which itself was introduced as a remaining baseplate. The later was chosen and realized from grade 316L alloy.
The main focus was set to define process parameter allowing a high process stability as well as increase the level of automation. A specific feature was the usage of data derived from inline camera pictures for process control.
The alloy applied for the wire-arc process was a solid wire of G 18 8 Mn type, offering mechanical properties of the weld metal of 370 MPa yield strength, 600 MPa ultimate strength and ductility of 35 % (A5).
Several more processing details were established, including intermediate machining strategies as well as the path planning under consideration of a limitation of the interlayer temperature of 250°C. This was specifically influencing the building sequence of the sprocket layers.
Based on the experience from manufacturing this defence related demonstrator, a repair use case was studied, again taking into account the capabilities of a mobile, deployable container which includes both WAAM and CNC milling facilities, enabling alternating additive and subtractive processing, on-site finishing and postprocessing.

Speaker: Mr Michael Unger (LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH)

21 WAAM (Wire Arc Manufacturing) – Manufacturing a Military Environment

The evolving European security environment has increased the demand for resilient, flexible, and sovereign manufacturing capabilities within the defence sector, placing additive manufacturing (AM) at the forefront of future production strategies. This contribution examines the potential of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), with a particular focus on the Fronius Additive Cell, as a scalable solution for producing high-quality metal components in both industrial facilities and military field environments. By leveraging advanced Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) technology, WAAM enables high deposition rates, reduced heat input, and improved process stability, thereby enhancing manufacturing efficiency while maintaining component quality. The paper highlights the role of digital inventories, decentralized production, and on-demand spare part manufacturing in strengthening operational readiness and reducing dependence on vulnerable supply chains. Overall, the presented approach demonstrates how WAAM can contribute to greater resilience, faster logistics, and increased technological sovereignty for the European defence industry.

Speaker: Mr Michael Eberhard (Fronius International GmbH)

10:00 Coffee Break

MAM in the Defense Sector - Highlight Session: Academic Perspective

22 No Sovereignty Without Metallurgy: Why Metal Additive Manufacturing Must Become Europe’s Strategic Technology

Strategic autonomy is created not in policy papers but in melt pools, powder plants, and qualification labs. Europe is rearming, yet its materials and manufacturing base has not kept pace with its ambitions: critical dependencies in refractory metals, titanium feedstock, and powder production sit alongside a deeper structural problem: qualification. Metal additive manufacturing offers defence exactly what it needs: on-demand spares for ageing fleets, geometry-enabled protective and signature-management structures, and processing routes for alloys that conventional metallurgy cannot handle. Yet certified adoption lags years behind technical capability. This plenary lecture argues that the bottleneck is not the technology but the ecosystem around it, and presents the Netherlands as evidence of what works: a short innovation chain from university research through applied institutes to industry and government, illustrated by the current collaboration with the Netherlands Ministry of Defence on additively manufactured ballistic protection. In-situ process monitoring is presented as a concrete route to breaking the qualification deadlock, and refractory alloys as the next frontier for space and defence systems. The talk concludes with a candid assessment of what European industry must invest in now. Because sovereignty is, ultimately, a manufacturing problem, and manufacturing problems are solvable.

Speaker: Dr Constantinos Goulas (University of Twente)

23 „Metal Additive Manufacturing for Defence: a Materials Engineering Perspective"

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Speaker: Prof. Eric Jägle (Univesity of the Bundeswehr München)

24 Spare parts engineering and additive manufacturing responding to specific operational scenarios of armed forces

The integration of additive manufacturing into the logistics processes of the armed forces has been established successfully at various levels in various nations. Especially the spare parts supply chain of armed forces during military missions can benefit from the advantages of additive manufacturing, particularly by reduced lead times, smaller spare parts inventories as well as enhanced flexibility.
The FORTE project IAMLOG investigates the integration of Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) into the existing logistics processes of the Austrian Armed Forces. This paper is reporting about a workflow incorporating several activities related to the engineering and additive manufacturing workflow for spare the production of parts needed to sustain military missions under restricted supply chain opportunities. The workflow starts with the documentation of the damaged parts. Assuming the near-term unavailability of an equivalent spar part, information about the necessary part details (geometry, material, functional features) are provided to is provided to remote engineers in some distance of the mission area. These experts are evaluating the manufacturing and logistics opportunities. By applying criteria derived from specific operational scenarios - including urgency of supply, material availability & manufacturing capacity at stationary as well as at forward-deployed factory units and related logistic efforts - the most appropriate solution is selected. Immediately afterwards, AM experts start to engineer the production and transfer the production planning data to the production facility.
A specific example is used to practically investigate the workflow itself and compare the spare parts demonstrators generated by metal additive manufacturing (wire-arc additive manufacturing, laser powder bed fusion) as well as polymer FDM with respect to spent resources, functional properties and endurance expectations.

Speaker: Rudolf Gradinger (LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH)

25 ....coming soon

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12:00 Business Lunch

Process- and Quality Control

26 Quo Vadis Additive Manufacturing? From Process Understanding to Predictive Quality Control

..coming soon..

Speaker: Tanja Pfeifer (Pankl Racing Systems)

27 Optimization of Processing Parameters for Laser Powder Bed Fusion Manufactured Rare-earth Free MnBi Magnets

Hard magnetic materials are essential for various applications, including green energy technologies such as renewable energy systems and electromobility. Additive manufacturing has emerged as a promising method for fabricating hard magnetic materials, offering design flexibility and scalability. While most research has concentrated on rare-earth-based NdFeB magnets, few studies have also investigated rare-earth-free magnetic materials, ranging from well-established ferrites and AlNiCo to more recent, emerging alternatives.
This study investigates the fabrication of the rare-earth-free magnetic α-MnBi phase via laser powder bed fusion using elemental Mn and Bi powder mixtures. The work focuses on optimizing laser powder bed fusion process parameters to enhance α-MnBi phase formation, refine the microstructure, and improve the magnetic performance of these rare-earth-free magnetic materials. The influence of process parameters on the resulting microstructure was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and correlated with magnetic properties. Magnetic measurements, performed using a vibrating sample magnetometer at both room and elevated temperatures, revealed a unique positive temperature coefficient of coercivity in the MnBi samples with coercivity increasing at higher temperatures. Additionally, mechanical properties, particularly microhardness, were assessed to evaluate the effects of process optimization on overall material performance. By directly synthesizing the magnetic α-MnBi phase through additive manufacturing, this work establishes a novel pathway for processing rare-earth-free bulk magnetic materials.

Speaker: Andrea Bachmaier (Erich Schmid Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

28 Validation of Imprintec Indentation Plastometry for Rapid Mechanical Property Screening of LPBF Ti-6Al-4V

Mechanical property verification for laser powder bed fused (LPBF) Ti-6Al-4V traditionally relies on machined witness specimens and destructive tensile testing. Indentation plastometry offers a faster, less material-intensive alternative by extracting stress-strain behaviour from controlled surface deformations via inverse numerical analysis. However, implementing this methodology for additive manufacturing quality assurance requires low prediction error, minimal systematic bias, and robust repeatability across diverse microstructural states.
This study evaluates the predictive capability of the Imprintec indentation-plastometry system against conventional tensile testing, comparing its original analysis routine with a vendor-revised, bias-corrected algorithm. A comprehensive dataset of 96 cylindrical specimens was produced across 24 combinations of LPBF processing parameters, heat-treatment conditions, and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) routes (four replicates per condition). Each specimen was sectioned to ensure that indentation plastometry and uniaxial tensile testing were conducted on material with identical processing and thermal histories.

Initial evaluation using the original analysis routine successfully captured qualitative trends in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength, but revealed notable systematic under prediction, while elongation estimates showed limited quantitative agreement. These observations led to the implementation of a revised bias correction. Both routines were subsequently applied across the complete dataset to evaluate changes in prediction accuracy, systematic bias, repeatability, and condition-dependent performance using linear trend analysis, mean absolute error (MAE), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and Bland-Altman agreement analysis. Subgroup analyses were also performed to assess sensitivity to specific heat-treatment and HIP routes.

The results establish the extent to which the bias-corrected Imprintec routine reduces systematic error and enhances quantitative strength predictions within the LPBF Ti-6Al-4V process window. Finally, the study highlights the distinct physical challenges of predicting localized ductility and defines the overall viability of indentation plastometry for rapid quality screening, trend monitoring, and reducing destructive testing requirements in additive manufacturing.

Keywords: laser powder bed fusion; Ti-6Al-4V; Imprintec; indentation plastometry; tensile testing; mechanical property prediction; quality assurance
This study aligns directly with the scope of MAMC 2026, and I am confident it will offer meaningful insights to the conference audience.

Speaker: Ashish Gahlot (Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH and University of Augsburg)

29 Non-Destructive Quality Control in Additive Manufacturing Using Laser Ultrasonics

Non-destructive testing (NDT) plays a critical role in the quality assurance of additively manufactured components. Due to the layer-wise manufacturing process, additive manufacturing can introduce process-induced defects such as porosity, lack of fusion, and residual stresses, which may significantly affect mechanical performance and structural integrity. NDT methods ideally enable the detection and characterization of such defects without impairing component functionality, thereby supporting process validation, reliability assessment, and safe industrial implementation.
Among emerging NDT techniques, laser ultrasonics is a promising candidate for both post-process quality assessment and in-line monitoring of additively manufactured components. While laser ultrasonic testing can also be employed for porosity assessment, the present study focuses on the detection and characterization of defects (voids). To this end, experimental results are presented for additively manufactured test specimens containing intentionally fabricated voids of varying sizes and depth locations. The laser ultrasonic measurements are validated through comparison with X-ray tomography (micro-CT) data. The results demonstrate the potential of laser ultrasonics for reliable defect detection and characterization in additively manufactured parts.

Speaker: Mike Hettich (RECENDT)

Recent Research Topics

30 Concrete Application of the 3D Master-based Method for Optimizing the Cost Calculation of PBF-LB/M Manufactured Parts

Additive Manufacturing Service Providers (AMSPs) have rapidly emerged with the increasing demand for mass-customized products. Evolving in a highly competitive market, AMSPs must provide accurate quotes, including price and delivery time, within a few minutes. Often receiving incomplete product manufacturing information (PMI), AMSPs face significant challenges in anticipating deviations between estimated and actual production costs.
This study investigates the correlation of a novel PMI quality assessment tool, the Formal Quality Level (FQL), with the related key performance indicator, KPIlevel, defined as the relative deviation between estimated and actual production costs. The analysis is conducted with real industrial data in the context of metal parts manufactured by Powder Bed Fusion with Laser Beam (PBF-LB).
Building on an original cost calculation modeling that integrates the advantage of process-map for high-quality PBF-LB production, our results demonstrate a strong correlation between the FQM and cost estimation accuracy: High-quality PMI is associated with low KPIlevel values of 1.3%, whereas low-quality level, characterized by incomplete or ambiguous PMI, leads to significantly higher deviations (exceeding 7.5%).
These findings support the use of FQL to mitigate the economic risks associated with automated quote generation. It can therefore provide valuable support for PBF-LB service providers in anticipating cost deviations and adjusting pricing strategies accordingly. Furthermore, this work contributes to the development of robust cost calculation methodologies for industrial AM by combining modeled process maps with the well-established process-based cost method.

Speaker: Dr Briac Lanfant (ZHAW-IPP)

31 Optimized Non-Contact Support Design for Low-Angle Overhangs in Ti-6Al-4V Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is widely used to manufacture complex metallic components. However, low-angle overhang features generally require support structures to prevent distortion and build failure. Conventional contact supports provide mechanical and thermal assistance during the manufacturing process. However, they must be removed after manufacturing, which increases post-processing time and cost. In addition, support removal often leaves support marks on the part surface and can cause surface damage. In this study, a topology-optimized non-contact support strategy is proposed for Ti-6Al-4V L-PBF to improve overhang quality while reducing support-induced post-processing issues and avoiding direct metallurgical bonding between the part and the support. The proposed approach introduces a thin unmelted powder gap between the overhang and the support structure. Thermal analysis was first performed to evaluate the temperature history and thermal loading conditions of overhang specimens with different inclination angles. Based on the thermal analysis results, topology optimization was conducted to design a support geometry that enhances heat transfer from the overhang region to the base plate. The optimized support geometry was then evaluated using build simulation to verify that thermally induced deformation of the support did not cause interference with the part during manufacturing. The dimensional accuracy of the manufactured specimens was evaluated using 3D scanning. The optimized non-contact support was compared with basic non-contact support, basic contact support, and unsupported overhang conditions. At a 25° overhang angle, the optimized non-contact support reduced the upper free-end RMS displacement by 45.7% compared with the basic non-contact support. The lower free-end RMS displacement was also reduced by 86.2% compared with the basic contact support at 25°. At a 20° overhang angle, the optimized non-contact support reduced the lower free-end RMS displacement by 93.9% compared with the unsupported condition. The optimized non-contact support also retained the overhang geometry at 15°, indicating improved stability for low-angle overhang manufacturing. These results demonstrate that topology-optimized non-contact supports can provide effective thermal assistance without direct bonding to the part. The proposed strategy offers a design approach for improving dimensional stability and reducing support-induced damage in Ti-6Al-4V L-PBF overhang structures

Speaker: Ohseop Kim (Inha University)

32 Developing a Hybrid Powder-wrought Hardened Stainless Alloy Steel Using the Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process for Injection Moulding Tool Applications

Hybrid additive-subtractive manufacturing parts made from hybrid powder-wrought tool steel using laser powder bed fusion have proven to be a cost-effective strategy for injection moulding tool applications. This article reports the development of a hybrid powder-wrought hardened stainless alloy steel, with balanced strength and hardness, for such applications. In this study, the mechanical behaviour of parts made from CX steel powder and wrought 17-4 PH steel under various heat-treatment conditions was first investigated individually. It was found that the tensile strength and hardness of both materials are identical at an ageing temperature of 460 °C. Subsequently, CX steel powder was additively fused onto wrought 17-4 PH steel to form hybrid alloy stainless steel parts. Microstructure analysis revealed defect-free, fully dense, homogenous powder-substrate fusion across the bonded interfacial region. Tensile tests confirmed that all fractures occurred well away from the bonded interface. The as-built sample exhibited a fairly balanced hardness (39/41 HRC) with an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1100 MPa. In comparison, the sample that underwent the ageing treatment (460 °C/1 h) had a balanced hardness of 48 HRC and UTS of 1420 MPa. This hybrid alloy steel could be an ideal material for manufacturing high-performance injection moulding tools, as it possesses a high UTS and identical hardness.

Speaker: Dr Simon Chan (The University of Auckland, New Zealand)

33 Root Cause Investigation of Dimensional Deviations in Precision CNC Machining of Additively Manufactured Components Using Support Structures as Fixtures

Metal additive manufacturing enables the production of complex near net shape geometries but remains limited in achieving the dimensional tolerances required for functional assembly features. Consequently, post process CNC machining is commonly employed within hybrid AM-CNC workflows to manufacture precision features. A potential advantage of this approach is the direct use of additively manufactured support structures as machining fixtures, reducing tooling cost and lead time. However, the suitability of support structures for machining high tolerance features remains insufficiently understood. This study investigates the root causes of dimensional deviations when AM support structures are used as fixtures during CNC machining of a tight tolerance O ring groove requiring ±20 µm accuracy. Impact hammer (tap) testing was performed on the cutting tool assembly and workpiece system to determine natural frequencies, while in-process acoustic monitoring was used to detect chatter and machining instabilities. Results show that the support structure based fixturing strategy produced greater dimensional deviation and groove ovality, causing the feature to exceed tolerance limits by 19 µm. Acoustic measurements and modal analysis revealed overlap between the natural frequencies of the workpiece fixture system and machining excitation frequencies, identifying resonance induced vibration as the primary source of dimensional inaccuracy. The dominant tooth passing excitation frequency was approximately 286 Hz. The findings demonstrate that support structures are only suitable as machining fixtures when their dynamic stiffness prevents resonance and associated chatter.

Speaker: Mustafiz Shaikh (Queens University Belfast)

14:50 Coffee Break

Laser Melting, Electron Beam Melting & Direct Deposition Processes

34 Increased Manufacturing Tolerance in w-DED Additive Manufacturing Using Plasma Transferred Arc

Additive manufacturing is a transformative technology and manufacturing process that offers significant advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques, including greater design flexibility, higher material efficiency, reduced reliance on costly tooling, and shorter production lead times. Wire-based Direct Energy Deposition (w-DED) can produce large components on a scale of metres at high deposition rates, and the plasma transferred arc (PTA) power source offers stable deposition with a high level of control. Crucial issues in the PTA w-DED process include stabilising metal transfer and avoiding defects, affected by the torch-to-workpiece distance and deposition parameters. However, low torch height and wire position result in low manufacturing tolerance to layer height variation, leading to higher collision risk and more complex control systems. In addition, large-part deposition requires local shielding protection, which makes it more difficult to accommodate sensors for in-situ process monitoring. A proposed solution is to increase the torch height while ensuring arc stiffness, metal transfer stability, and avoiding defects or exposure. This work investigates the feasibility of the extended-torch-height PTA w-DED process for increasing its manufacturing tolerance. An experimental method was first developed to quantify the PTA arc pressure, and the effects of current, torch height, and PGFR were systematically examined at a conventional low torch height (~6 to 8 mm). Single-pass melting experiments were then performed at torch heights of 6-20 mm using PGFRs of 0.4-2.5 L/min, and the results reveal a distance-dependent role of PGFR. Excessive PGFR increased arc pressure impingement, leading to keyhole defects at lower torch heights. In contrast, higher PGFR became beneficial to the elongated plasma arc stiffness at an extended torch height of 20 mm. Energy distribution measurements showed that extended torch height broadened the effective heating area, increasing melt pool size and reducing remelting depth. At extended torch height, wire-based deposition tests showed that the droplet trajectory deviated from the vertical centreline by 30–35°, indicating challenges with material feeding accuracy, but the arc pressure contributed more for metal transferring when the wire melting point is in front of the centre of the plasma arc. A local shielding device was used to protect the deposition process with extended torch height, and in-situ measurements demonstrated that the oxygen level around the melt pool dropped below 1000 ppm after 20 seconds of purging with pure Ar gas, satisfying the oxidation-mitigation requirement during deposition for most alloys. Therefore, manufacturing tolerance in w-DED additive manufacturing can be improved by increasing the torch and wire height, enabling a stable deposition process with suitable arc pressure, wire-feeding strategy, and local shielding, providing a foundation for more flexible additive manufacturing of large-scale components and for the development of in-situ process monitoring sensors.

Speaker: Hanxing Zhang (Welding and Additive Manufacturing Centre, Cranfield University, UK)

35 Binder-Assisted Attachment of Cr₃C₂ Particles to Tool Steel Powders for Stable PBF-LB/M Processing

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) enables the production of highly individualized and geometrically complex components, making it particularly attractive for tooling applications. However, the range of materials that can be processed without cracking remains limited, particularly in the case of tool steels. In this study, the addition of chromium carbides (Cr₃C₂) particles to the hot-work tool steel X40CrMoV5-1 enabled crack-free PBF-LB/M processing. Due to the fine particle size of the carbides, powder segregation occurred during the recoating process, resulting in an inhomogeneous powder-bed composition. To prevent segregation, the carbide particles were bonded to the steel particles using a polymer binder applied via a fluidized bed process. The influence of this modified powder system on the mechanical performance was investigated by means of bending strength and fatigue testing. The results demonstrate the potential of carbide-modified and binder-functionalized powder feedstocks for improving the processability and performance of hot-work tool steels in additive manufacturing.

Speaker: Oliver Bürgi (Institute for Materials Applications in Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University)

36 LPBF Processing and Characterization of Pure Ta and Ta-10W Alloy for Very High-Temperature Applications

Refractory metals are attracting increasing interest for additive manufacturing applications in extreme thermal environments, owing to their high melting temperature, thermal stability and corrosion resistance. Among these, tantalum and Ta-W alloys are promising candidates for components operating under demanding thermal and chemical conditions.
This work investigates the LPBF processing and characterization of pure Ta and Ta-10W alloy produced on an EOS M100 system. Laser power and scanning speed were systematically varied to optimize process parameters and evaluate the different response of the two materials to the same manufacturing conditions.
For pure tantalum, relative densities approaching 99.9% were achieved, enabling comprehensive material characterization which confirmed the suitability of LPBF-produced tantalum for extreme-environment applications.
The same optimization approach was extended to Ta-10W alloy, for which relative densities approaching 99.8% were obtained within the optimized process window. Microstructural characterization by optical microscopy and SEM was performed on both materials, providing insight into the effect of tungsten addition on melt pool morphology, defect distribution and microstructural development. These results demonstrate the feasibility of producing high-density Ta-W components by LPBF and establish the foundation for further characterization currently underway.
The results underline that in Ta-based refractory alloys, process parameter optimization governs not only densification but also melt pool stability and defect formation, key aspects for the deployment of additively manufactured refractory components in demanding applications.

Speaker: Alberto Barci (Università degli Studi di Padova DFA, INFN Padova)

37 Effect of Thermal Conditions on Microstructure Evolution and Wear Behavior of Fe-Cr-Nb Coatings Produced by Laser Cladding

This study investigates the influence of thermal process conditions on the microstructural evolution and wear-related properties of a Fe-Cr-Nb coating produced by laser cladding. Iron-based hardfacing alloys with increased niobium content have attracted interest for wear-resistant applications due to their potential to form hard Nb-rich precipitates while maintaining good corrosion resistance. However, the influence of thermal cycling and repeated heat input during multi-layer laser cladding on the resulting microstructure and functional properties has not yet been sufficiently clarified.

To address this, single- and multi-layer coatings are manufactured by laser cladding under varying thermal conditions, using optimized process parameters obtained through a multi-stage Design of Experiments. The study focuses on the correlation between process-induced thermal history, microstructure development and resulting mechanical properties. Particular attention is given to the influence of repeated thermal exposure on phase formation, precipitate evolution, and microstructural stability within the iron matrix. Microstructural characterization is performed using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, Vickers hardness measurements and abrasive wear testing are conducted to evaluate the mechanical and tribological performance of the coatings.

The study aims to advance understanding of process–structure–property relationships in wear-resistant Fe-Cr-Nb hardfacing alloys. The findings are expected to provide insights into the role of thermal process control on the formation of wear-relevant microstructural features and the resulting performance of single- and multi-layer coatings manufactured by laser cladding.

Speaker: Julius Arnhold (Chair of Materials Engineering of Additive Manufacturing, Technical University of Munich)

38 Thermal Modelling in High-deposition-rate Laser Directed Energy Deposition Process

A numerical layer build-up procedure coupled with a moving heat flux was constructed to investigate thermal cycles and temperature distribution that result in the multi-layer deposition of an AISI 316 austenitic steel on an AISI 304 austenitic steel substrate. To simulate the DED process, the automated interface of the ABAQUS AM module was used to define element activation and heat input event data as a function of time and position. The one-way heat and material deposition toolpath used in the analysis was created with a MatLab path script. Thermal cycles created during the AM pool crystallization were predicted for two processes performed at constant heat input equal to 117.2 J/mm. In process one, a 7.8 kW three-layer AM deposition was performed at a welding speed of 33.3 mm/s. In process two, a 3.9 kW three-layer AM process was performed at a welding speed of 16.65 mm/s. Results demonstrate that at equal heat input, the combination lower power and lower welding speed produces lower peak temperatures. As lower peak temperatures generate lower residual stresses evolution, from a design point of view, the one-way heat and material deposition processing toolpath with the lower power and lower welding speed should be selected. However, if most determinant for the production of parts and components is high-deposition- rate, then, the higher power and higher welding speed situation should be used. In this case, a complementary residual stresses analysis should be performed so as not to compromise the integrity of the part or component.

Speaker: Dr Edison Bonifaz (York University)

Process- and Quality Control

39 Effect of Preheating Temperature on Retained Austenite in LPBF Processed

Retained austenite (RA) is known to influence the printability and resulting microstructure of additively manufactured (AM) tool steels, particularly under low preheating conditions where thermal gradients and cooling rates are high. This study investigates the effect of preheating temperature and selected laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process parameters on the retained austenite content of a tool steel. Cubic specimens are produced using three predefined parameter sets that have previously yielded high relative density at the expense of reduced build speed, leading to elevated thermal conditions during fabrication. The retained austenite content is quantified in the as printed condition. The results provide insight into the relationship between preheating temperature, thermal history, phase stability, and mechanical response, offering guidance for process strategies aimed at improving printability and microstructural control of medium carbon alloyed tool steels at reduced preheating temperatures.

Speaker: Negar Panahi (Uddeholm AB / Karlstad University)

40 Multi-Sensor Analysis of Thermal History and Process Stability in Arc-based Directed Energy Deposition with Varying Torch Angles and Positioning

Arc-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED-Arc) provides significant potential for large-scale additive manufacturing, yet industrial adoption remains restricted by the underutilization of multi-axis system kinematics and a lack of comprehensive data for robust process control. This study investigates the complex interdependencies between torch orientation, stick out length, and welding parameters to establish a foundational database for AI-driven quality assurance. By employing a multi-sensor approach, the research systematically evaluates the thermal behavior, process stability, and resulting geometric accuracy of deposits produced under varying operational conditions. The experimental design focuses on a wide parameter window, specifically covering torch angles from -45° to 45° and stick-out variations from 5 mm to 35 mm. Experimental results indicate that these specific parameter variations significantly alter melt pool dynamics, heat input distribution, and the localized thermal history, which directly impacts the resulting microstructure, phase distribution, and mechanical integrity. Preliminary data suggest distinct correlations between specific parameter sets and quantifiable microstructural properties, including hardness profiles and grain morphology. Furthermore, the integration of high-frequency acoustic emission analysis demonstrates promising potential for the reliable real-time detection of process instabilities, such as arc fluctuations or geometric deviations. By bridging the gap between sensor data and process outcomes, this research defines a scalable methodology for future predictive process control models and demonstrates how leveraging the full kinematic flexibility of DED-Arc systems enhances manufacturing quality and reliability.

Speaker: Thomas Reindl (Technical University of Munich)

41 Pressure Impulse Testing of Additively Manufactured Hydraulic Components: Influence of Hot Isostatic Pressing on Fatigue Life

Hydraulic components are subjected to high internal pressures and repeated pressure fluctuations during operation. Pressure impulse testing is commonly used to assess their safety and functional reliability. However, limited data are available on the dynamic strength of additively manufactured hydraulic components, particularly regarding the influence of thermal post-processing such as hot isostatic pressing (HIP). In this study, a dedicated hollow specimen geometry was developed to allow mounting on the pressure impulse test rig and to provide an analogue to an isolated channel section in a hydraulic manifold. Specimens with different wall thicknesses were then manufactured from AlSi10Mg by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and tested using a trapezoidal pressure profile. The fatigue performance was evaluated based on the number of pressure cycles sustained by the specimens. In addition to wall thickness, different building orientations were investigated. The influence of HIP on fatigue life under pressure impulse loading was examined. The study focuses on fluid power applications and uses the experimental results to derive design recommendations for the wall thickness of additively manufactured hydraulic components with and without post-processing. Furthermore, a material characterization approach for hydraulic components is proposed to support simulation-based lifetime assessment.

Speaker: Zita Tappeiner (RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems (ifas))

42 Geometric Process Parameter Relationships for Weaving in Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition

Parameter selection in wire arc Directed Energy Deposition (wa-DED) is inherently complex due to the large number of interdependent process variables. For weaving strategies in particular, no straightforward empirical rules exist across varying deposition rates. This makes trial-and-error approaches costly and unreliable. This work presents a systematic, geometry-based derivation of key weaving parameters, including weaving half-length and tangential/orthogonal torch velocity components. These are derived from cross-sectional geometry and substrate conditions. The approach ensures that slow-response subsystems, such as wire feed, are not overloaded during trajectory execution. Building on prior modeling and control work for single-seam deposition, where geometric relationships proved especially valuable, this framework extends naturally to weaving and supports control law design. Additionally, a method for systematically accounting for wall crossings is introduced and validated experimentally through the deposition of two intersecting weaving walls.

Speaker: Thomas Kopf (AIT - Austrian Institute of Technology)

43 Zero-Defect Manufacturing through Layer-Wise AI Monitoring in Metal Additive Manufacturing: From Test Cubes to Drones

Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) via Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) has become an established production technology, ranging from rapid prototyping to the serial production of complex components. However, the increasing diversity of machines, materials, and process configurations creates significant challenges for quality assurance and process stability.
To achieve First-Time-Right or Zero-Defect Manufacturing, reliable in-situ monitoring is required to detect anomalies before defects propagate through the build. This work presents a multimodal, machine-independent AI-based monitoring system that combines external sensing, machine data, and knowledge from materials science and manufacturing processes.
The system utilizes layer-wise information, including optical images and machine data, to detect and classify process anomalies in real time. Once identified, defects can be reported immediately, enabling corrective actions that may prevent the loss of parts or entire print jobs.
The approach was developed and validated using aluminium and titanium alloys. To ensure multimodality and higher prediction accuracy, the framework relies on external camera systems and standardized process data acquisition. Training data were generated progressively, starting with simple test cubes containing intentionally induced defects, followed by benchmark artifacts and finally complex drone components. The AI architecture processes stage 1 (powder before melting) and stage 2 (after melting) images of each layer in parallel, fusing their representations before classification rather than treating them as independent predictions. The resulting system can detect and classify multiple defect categories, including porosity, layer misalignment, and other powder-bed anomalies. Trained across two material classes, the framework demonstrates transferability to new machines and materials with only limited retraining requirements.
The presented work represents a step toward industrial AI for additive manufacturing, combining advanced AI methods with process expertise to create robust, transferable, and easily deployable quality-monitoring solutions for agile manufacturing environments.

Speaker: David Wimler (JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH)

17:30 Conference Dinner "Buschenschank Fuhrgassl-Huber" Departure by bus. Meeting point in front of the Hotel: 5.30 pm

Thursday 12 November

MAM in the Defense Sector - Highlight Session

44 From Innovation to Capability – Additive Manufacturing as a Strategic Asset for Europe

Europe has a strong research and industrial base in additive manufacturing, but it is scaling up much more slowly than its global competitors. The main challenge is not a lack of innovation, but a lack of implementation. From the perspective of AMDefNet, this keynote argues that Europe must move from demonstration projects to real industrial capability. This can be achieved through structured qualification processes for existing systems, a strategically supported right to repair, and resilient, local supply chains. The keynote calls for a European strategy for additive manufacturing that covers all areas of application, from defense to civilian industry, and helps create a true single market through harmonized standards and active public procurement.

Speaker: Sascha Hartig (AMDefNet - Additive Manufacturing Defence Network)

45 Beyond Geometry – How Additive Manufacturing and Materials Engineering are Transforming the Suppressor Market

Metal Additive Manufacturing is enabling a new generation of suppressors that are lighter, stronger, more durable, and faster to develop than conventionally manufactured solutions. This presentation examines how advanced design methodologies, titanium and nickel-based alloys, process qualification, and industrial-scale AM production combine to create sustainable competitive advantages for defense applications. Through the lens of suppressor development, the talk demonstrates how the intersection of design freedom and materials science is shaping the future of metal additive manufacturing in defense.

Speakers: Armin Wiedenegger (voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center), Christoph Turk (voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG)

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10:30 Coffee Break

Digitalisation & Artificial Intelligence

48 Data Driven Machine Learning Approach for 3D Flow Prediction in Hydrogen Burners

Hydrogen burner design requires accurate prediction of three-dimensional flow and mixing fields, since local hydrogen distribution strongly influences flame stability, flashback risk, and emission behavior. Additive manufacturing enables the realization of complex burner concepts with tailored injection layouts, small-scale fuel inlets, and compact mixing geometries that would be difficult or impossible to manufacture using conventional processes. At the same time, this increased design freedom requires efficient simulation-based methods to evaluate large design spaces while respecting manufacturing constraints. In this work, the burner geometry is therefore represented by a parametrized, manufacturing-aware model in which relevant additive manufacturing restrictions are embedded directly in the admissible design space.

The proposed approach uses a MeshGraphNet architecture trained on CFD-generated flow fields from OpenFOAM simulations. Unstructured CFD meshes are transformed into graph representations, where nodes contain local flow quantities, spatial information, and boundary encodings, while edges describe geometric relations between neighboring mesh points. The model predicts incremental updates of velocity, pressure, and species mass fractions and is applied autoregressively for multi-step rollout prediction. To improve physical plausibility, the data-driven training objective is extended with a lightweight species-closure constraint that penalizes violations of species consistency.

Results (Fig. 1) on unseen burner geometries in the parameter space show stable rollout behavior and good agreement with CFD reference data for velocity and pressure. The relative error increases moderately over the rollout horizon. The species constraint improves the plausibility and spatial symmetry of the hydrogen field without requiring additional CFD data or expensive residual evaluations. However, hydrogen mass fraction remains the most challenging prediction target, especially in low-concentration regions where small local deviations are not fully captured by global error metrics. These findings indicate that species closure alone is not sufficient to achieve CFD-level fidelity for hydrogen mixing. Ongoing work is therefore focused on integrating stronger PDE-based loss terms derived from the governing transport equations to improve accuracy in critical low-concentration zones and enhance the physical consistency of long-term rollouts.

Overall, the study demonstrates that constrained MeshGraphNets are a promising surrogate modeling approach for accelerating hydrogen burner design. Even before reaching standalone CFD accuracy, the model can provide informed initial conditions for CFD simulations, and serve as a foundation for future physics-enhanced optimization workflows.

Speaker: Luca Juris (Chair for Digital Additive Production DAP - RWTH Aachen)

49 Spatiotemporal Sensor Fusion for AI-Based Quality Assurance in Arc-Based Manufacturing

Artificial intelligence (AI) can enable adaptive, in-process quality assurance in arc-based manufacturing and wire-arc directed energy deposition (wire-arc DED). Industrial deployment lags behind. Machine environments are heterogeneous, sensor systems are proprietary, and transferable concepts for feeding process data into AI-based monitoring are missing. AI already works for isolated welding and deposition tasks; what is lacking are frameworks that integrate sensors independently of the specific hardware and scale across plants. This work presents a modular framework for AI-enabled process monitoring. Robotic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) serves as the demonstrator, a process that directly underlies wire-arc DED. The framework combines internal machine signals (electrical signals such as welding current and voltage, wire feed speed, shielding-gas flow rate) with external sensor data such as airborne arc sound (microphone-based). Machine-internal signals are read via a standardized OPC UA interface, while the high-frequency external signals are captured by a dedicated data-acquisition system and aligned through a common time base in the unified data architecture. A spatiotemporal representation maps all signals onto common spatial and temporal coordinates, so process states from different sources can be linked and interpreted consistently and further sensors can be added later without redesigning the architecture. Industrial requirements and implementation barriers were identified in structured interviews with welding experts at an automotive manufacturer, covering the operational, engineering, planning, and strategic-management levels. The framework was validated in a robotic GMAW cell using synchronized electrical and acoustic measurements. The signals were transformed into image representations, which a 2D convolutional neural network classified by nozzle-to-workpiece distance. The classifier reached 96.0% accuracy on electrical-signal images and 93.2% on acoustic images. Nozzle-to-workpiece distance affects arc stability and heat input; in wire-arc DED it influences layer-height stability. Fusing both signal types gives a more robust basis for process assessment. The framework is sensor-agnostic and designed to transfer to other cells and arc-based processes, showing how standardized data architectures and spatiotemporal process representation make AI-based quality assurance scalable across welding and metal additive manufacturing.

Speakers: Georgij Safronov (Technische Universität München), Mr Heiko Theisinger (BMW Group)

50 Influence of Scan Vector Metadata Channel Encodings on Optical Tomography Image Prediction in PBF-LB/M

Parts produced by Powder Bed Fusion with Laser Beam of Metals (PBF-LB/M) are susceptible to thermally induced defects during the manufacturing process. The thermal history of parts can be assessed through Optical Tomography (OT), an in-situ monitoring technique that captures layer-wise integrated near-infrared emission intensity during the build process. Acquiring reference OT images in qualification requires time- and cost-consuming physical test build jobs. Predicting OT images directly from scan vector metadata (e.g. scan orientation, scan order, laser parameters) enables prospective process evaluation without requiring physical builds. This offers a pathway toward data-driven defect detection, reducing the need for dedicated test build jobs.
To achieve this, a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN) based on the pix2pix framework is used. Vector metadata needs to be rasterized into spatially structured input representations to provide rich context for the prediction task, though richer metadata representations increase the computational cost of training and inference. In this work, we present an ablation study on the relevance of rasterized vector metadata features for layer-wise OT image prediction. Through systematic ablation of individual and combined metadata channels, we quantify the contribution of each feature to prediction accuracy and assess whether the full set of available vector metadata is necessary for accurate OT image estimation. Our results provide guidance on the minimum sufficient input representation for efficient and accurate OT image prediction in PBF-LB/M.

Speaker: Sven Erb (Chair for Digital Additive Production DAP - RWTH Aachen)

51 Process Fundamentals for Potential AI Driven Geometry Adaptive Process Control in Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) enables the tool-free manufacturing of complex metallic components. However, the often-emphasized geometric freedom of PBF-LB/M is limited by the insufficient transferability of process parameters developed on simple reference geometries to real components with locally varying geometric conditions. In particular, thin-walled sections, overhangs and filigree features contain short scan vectors and reduced local heat dissipation, leading to short repetition times, geometry-induced heat accumulation and locally altered melt-pool dimensions. As melt-pool width and depth are directly linked to dimensional accuracy, surface quality, porosity formation and microstructural evolution, maintaining constant melt-pool dimensions throughout a component is considered a key target for geometry-adaptive process control. This contribution investigates the process-side fundamentals for a geometry-adaptive parameter pre-control strategy in PBF-LB/M. In contrast to closed-loop concepts based on monitoring signals, relevant process parameters are intended to be adapted before manufacturing and written into the build file instead of being actively regulated during the process. To identify geometry-dependent process sensitivities, cuboid specimens with defined scan-vector lengths and varying process parameters were monitored using coaxial photodiode and lateral optical tomography during and analyzed metallographically after the build. Pronounced deviations occurred for scan-vector lengths below approximately 3.5 mm, where heat accumulation caused melt-pool enlargement, surface elevations and reduced process robustness. This was also reflected in the relative density. The corresponding monitoring data confirmed geometry-dependent process deviations, but their correlation to part quality is not clear-cut. Comparable signal levels in different geometric sections do not necessarily correspond to identical melt-pool dimensions or relative densities. Thus, monitoring signals have to be interpreted in relation to local geometry and process history rather than as direct indicators of local temperature or part quality.

Speaker: Luke Schüller (Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT)

Simulation

52 Process Simulation of a WA-DED Multi-material Joint for Cryogenic Applications

The increasing demand for developing lightweight liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage systems, particularly for aviation applications, has intensified the need for reliable multi-material structures capable of operating under cryogenic conditions. While stainless steel is commonly used for LH₂ tanks due to its excellent cryogenic performance, hybrid concepts combining stainless steel and aluminium offer significant weight reduction potential. Such concepts require robust multi-material joints capable of withstanding high thermal loading conditions while maintaining leak-tightness for LH₂ applications.

Current state-of-the-art joining technologies for aluminium–steel combinations, such as explosion welding and friction welding, can suppress the formation of brittle intermetallic Al–Fe phases due to their solid-state processing routes. However, these methods are limited in geometric flexibility, associated with high manufacturing costs, and have demonstrated limited reliability for demanding cryogenic applications.

This work investigates the potential of Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition (WA-DED) for the fabrication of aluminium–steel transition joints for LH₂ tank systems using 316L stainless steel and ER5183 aluminium alloy. Particular attention is given to the mechanical loading of the brittle intermetallic phase at the material interface for varying joint geometries and cryogenic operating conditions. Within the LH2-LIWA-Tank project, a comprehensive finite element simulation framework was developed to analyse stress evolution during manufacturing and in-service operation. Material testing was performed over a wide temperature range to obtain temperature-dependent material data required for both welding process simulations and cryogenic service simulations. The manufacturing simulation was directly coupled to the in-service analysis by transferring residual stresses, temperature fields, and material states. Furthermore, an analytical thermo-fluidic model representing the LH₂ filling process was used to define thermal boundary conditions for the cryogenic thermo-mechanical simulations.

The numerical results were validated experimentally using a WA-DED multi-material joint manufactured at LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen. The combined experimental–numerical approach provides an important basis for the future development and optimization of reliable multi-material joints for cryogenic hydrogen applications.

Speaker: Hugo Drexler (LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH)

53 GPU-Accelerated Discrete Element Simulation of Powder Bed Formation in Binder Jetting

Simulation has become an essential tool for understanding and optimizing
additive manufacturing (AM) processes. In Binder Jetting, part quality is
dictated to a large extent by the powder bed itself: local packing density,
layer homogeneity, and surface roughness directly govern binder penetration,
green-part integrity, and final density after sintering. Yet the recoating
step remains difficult to predict, and conventional simulation techniques are
often too slow and computationally demanding to be deployed in parameter
studies, embedded design pipelines, or digital twins. In this study, we
propose a high-performance, GPU-accelerated Discrete Element Method (DEM)
framework tailored for powder bed formation in Binder Jetting. The framework
resolves individual particle dynamics during spreading, capturing
inter-particle contact, friction, cohesion, and the interaction between the
powder and the recoater as it advances across the build area. By modeling the
powder at the grain scale, we naturally reproduce phenomena that mesh-based or
continuum approaches struggle to represent, including size segregation, void
formation, and the influence of particle size distribution and shape on
packing. The simulation is implemented entirely on the GPU, exploiting
massively parallel contact detection and integration to enable large particle
counts at interactive performance on high-end desktop hardware. This allows
fast prototyping and rapid feedback on recoating parameters such as blade
speed, layer thickness, and powder properties. The capabilities of the
approach are demonstrated through benchmark scenarios relevant to Binder
Jetting, including spreading dynamics, layer-by-layer bed build-up, and
packing-density analysis. The findings indicate that high-fidelity,
near-real-time powder bed simulation is attainable, provided that key
numerical parameters such as contact stiffness, time-step size, and
neighbor-search cutoff are carefully tuned to balance physical accuracy
against computational throughput. This trade-off, rather than raw hardware
performance alone, emerges as the main lever for reaching interactive speeds,
with the calibrated configuration validated against high-fidelity CPU-based
DEM reference computations and experimental packing measurements to ensure the
accelerated model remains physically faithful. Overall, this work unveils new
prospects for process optimization, recoater design, and simulation-based
control within digital manufacturing workflows.

Speaker: Dr Jules Topart (Université of Picardie Jules Verne)

54 Anisotropic Gaussian-Process Surrogates for LPBF Thermo-Mechanical Calibration

Thermo-mechanical simulation of Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) requires calibration against measured displacement, but the common practice of tuning a single Strain Scaling Factor (SSF) applies one constant to the entire strain field and cannot reproduce the localized displacement caused by non-uniform thermal contraction. We present an active-learning framework for multi-parameter inverse calibration of L-PBF simulation : of 14 thermo-mechanical and material factors, the five most influential on displacement (CTE, Young's modulus, yield strength, SSF, absorptivity) are varied, and a Gaussian-process surrogate of the forward model is trained adaptively. On a cantilever benchmark mapping the five inputs to 251 displacement outputs (ANSYS 2024 R1), each campaign starts from 50 Latin-hypercube samples, adds up to 500 acquisition-selected simulations, and terminates when the five-fold cross-validated RMSE of the surrogate falls below 0.05 on the standardized scale, equivalent to explaining 99.75% of the response variance. Eighteen acquisition variants (expected-improvement sweeps and schedules, probability of improvement, confidence bounds, randomized selection, enlarged pools, random search; 54 campaigns) all failed, plateauing at RMSE 0.0572. The bottleneck is shown to be surrogate specification rather than sampling policy : replacing the isotropic Matérn kernel with an anisotropic kernel that learns one length-scale per input improved accuracy by 25-32% at a fixed data budget and reached the target (RMSE 0.0492 at iteration 384), with all replicates beating every baseline; multi-start verification ruled out optimizer effects. ARD also flagged absorptivity as low-sensitivity. This gain carries a cost : per-iteration hyperparameter refitting grows polynomially with accumulated data, from under 240 s to over 3,000 s by iteration 400. ARD kernels are therefore necessary for L-PBF calibration surrogates, paired with early stopping and reduced refit frequency.

Speaker: Min Soo Kim (Inha University)

55 Physics-Guided Gaussian Process Classification of Cracks in LPBF with Ti-6Al-4V Parts

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) produces complex metal alloy geometries and ready-to-use prototypes for industrial applications; However, this geometric freedom still depends heavily on preparation expertise and process tuning to achieve a successful first print. Among the failures that are induced by the manufacturing process cracks are especially critical, as they can lead to part rejection and are difficult to identify during early build preparation. This work presents a physics-guided feature engineering classifier based on industrial LPBF production using geometrical and simulation derived features.
The curated dataset consists of 127 LPBF cases printed in Ti-6Al-4V, including 68 cracked and 59 uncracked parts. The cases are relabeled from industrial production records using manufacturing inspection records into uncrack and crack cases. Each part is represented by 26 input features combining AM specific geometrical descriptors with residual stresses and strains extracted from Multiphysics numerical simulations of the printing process. The geometrical descriptors capture design characteristics relevant to LPBF printability, while the simulation-derived features encode mechanical indicators associated with the development of cracks. These features are selected using expert knowledge to preserve the representation physically meaningful and suitable for classification.
A Gaussian Process classifier is trained to distinguish cracked from uncracked cases. Using a train-test split, the model achieved 90% accuracy and precision for crack classification with a recall of 92% for the crack cases. These results indicate that there is an identifiable pattern between complex industrial geometries when using the correct simulation derived fields and specialized geometrical features for a specific failure case, such as cracks.
This proposed method supports early defect assessment after the build preparation and before printing for metal LPBF, specifically Titanium alloy, potentially reducing material scrapping as well as overall production costs.

Speaker: Ms Emily Esmeralda Carvajal Camelo (Materialise, LMSD Lab, KULeuven)

12:20 Cosing

12:35 Business Lunch