| Abstract Scope |
AM is emerging as a gateway to unexplored metallurgical phenomena that must be understood to open the full potential of the technology in terms of cost, design-flexibility and design-complexity. The steady-state conditions assumed during traditional manufacturing processes are not valid in AM, because of the spatial and temporal transients imposed by the abrupt, cyclical changes in energy delivery. As a result, the intrinsic microstructural heterogeneity throws new challenges at the familiar notion of a ‘microstructure-property’ relationship. This lecture will present recent advances in the way that the electron microscope and the atom probe microscope have enabled insights into this complex relationship. Recent breakthrough methodological advances in Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction, 3D-electron backscattered diffraction, aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe microscopy will be presented in the context of how these techniques are enabling the generation of critical quantitative data for AM process control. |