Direct Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Metal Parts: SLM, EBM, Laser Metal Deposition

Direct metal additive manufacturing is a group of advanced manufacturing processes that use a high energy laser or electron beam to create three-dimensional complex metal parts by adding materials layer-by-layer directly from digital 3D CAD data. This section provides an overview of selective laser melting, electron beam melting and laser metal powder deposition by addressing their process basics, feedstock powder characteristics, process-induced defects, residual stress, macro- and microstructural characteristics, and their roles in materials mechanical behaviors.