ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING USING POWDER BED MELTING

There is provided a powder bed melting apparatus arranged to irradiate a powder bed with a charged particle beam, the apparatus comprising a neutralized particle source operable to provide neutralized particles having an opposite charge to the charged particle beam, and a neutralized particle focusing system operable to focus the neutralized particles on the charged particle beam, and a weak focusing means arranged to weak focus the neutralizing particle beam from the neutralizing particle source onto the powder bed near the irradiation location of the charged particle beam on the powder such that the neutralizing particle neutralizes the charging of the powder bed by the charged particle beam. A method of additive manufacturing using the powder bed melting apparatus is also provided in which the component is formed as a series of layers, each layer being formed by scanning a charged particle beam across a layer of the powder bed to melt the powder according to a predetermined pattern. 提供了一种被布置为使用带电粒子束来辐照粉末床的