Patent attributes
Closed-loop metal powder management methods for additive manufacturing. Virgin metal powder is provided in a closed powder container comprising at least one sensor, tracker, or optical device. The metal powder is transferred to an additive manufacturing system, a portion of a metal powder layer is consolidated, and excess metal powder is transferred from the additive manufacturing system to the powder container, a second powder container, or an internal powder container. Virgin metal powder or a second metal powder are added to the excess metal powder, a quality of the mixed powder is validated, the process is repeated at least once, and powder physical transfer data associated with at least one of the steps is collected and stored in a data repository. Powder material parameters may be measured and assessed, and may be also be stored in the data repository.
