In-line monitoring of the Fused Filament Fabrication additive manufacturing process

In the present work, a novel combination method of in-line monitoring and offline non-destructive evaluation was developed for the detection and monitoring of defects in additively manufactured specimen. The new methodology includes Infrared Thermography, Acoustic Emission and Micro-computerised Tomography to allow for the detection of anomalies during the printing process and the verification of their presence after the printing process without the need for destructive testing. It was found that the in-line monitoring can provide information on the efficacy of the printing process which is substantiated by the offline assessment.