In 1965, Gordon Moore set the path for the semiconductor revolution with his article “Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits" That vision of doubling the number of integrated circuits on each chip every 1-2 years was coined “Moore’s Law”. For the past 60 years, it has motivated exponential technology roadmaps that have transformed modern life.
Metal AM, in particular laser powder bed fusion, is an exponential growth technology that has improved productivity by orders of magnitude in its 2+ decades of industrial use. This presentation will begin with a short technology history from the original developments of metal PBF-L in the 1990's with productivity of 1 cm^3 / day to today's current productivity of 15 cm^3 / hour, roughly 2.5 orders of magnitude improvement. This is "where we are" and serves as the first portion of the talk.
The presentation will then transition to modern technologies that will drive metal laser powder bed fusion productivity to 100 cm^3 and beyond including data science and quality needs to support new printing paradigms. This will include new dynamic focus laser results on multiple alloy systems. In addition to productivity improvement, we will show energy efficiency improvements from moving to dynamic focus laser systems.
Covered in the presentation will be views on opportunities for rapid qualification, testing, and quality management. This is the "how do we stay on Track:" and serves as the second portion of the talk. In closing, views on the current state of practice and future roadmaps will be shared.
