Optical design and initial results from NIST's AMMT/TEMPS facility

NIST’s Physical Measurement and Engineering Laboratories are jointly developing the Additive Manufacturing Measurement Test bed (AMMT)/ Temperature and Emittance of Melts, Powders and Solids (TEMPS) facilities. These facilities will be co-located on an open architecture laser-based powder bed fusion system allowing users full access to the system’s operation parameters. This will provide users with access to machine-independent monitoring and control of the powder bed fusion process. In this paper there will be emphasis on the AMMT, which incorporates in-line visible light collection optics for monitoring and feedback control of the powder bed fusion process. We shall present an overview of the AMMT/TEMPs program and it goals. The optical and mechanical design of the open architecture powder-bed fusion system and the AMMT will be also be described. In addition, preliminary measurement results from the system along with the current system status of the system the will be described.