Multi‐Material Processing: Next step in laser‐based powder bed fusion

Several additive manufacturing technologies are applied in industrial manufacturing today. For instance, laser‐based powder bed fusion of metals (also known as e.g. laser beam melting, selective laser melting) is utilized for serial production in aerospace industry [1]. The main advantage of additive manufacturing technologies is the freedom of design. Hence, functionally optimized parts in terms of lightweight, fluid dynamics etc., can be produced without having an exponential growth in manufacturing costs when increasing geometrical complexity, like it is known from conventional machining. However, predominantly mono‐material processing is commercially available today. This is especially true with regards to laser‐based powder bed fusion of metals.