A multi-technique tomography-based approach for non-invasive characterization of additive manufacturing components in view of vacuum/UHV applications: preliminary results

In this paper, we have studied an additively manufactured metallic component, intended for ultra-high vacuum application, the exit-snout of the MACHINA transportable proton accelerator beam-line. Metal additive manufacturing components can exhibit heterogeneous and anisotropic microstructures. Two non-destructive imaging techniques, X-ray computed tomography and Neutron Tomography, were employed to examine its microstructure. They unveiled the presence of porosity and channels, the size and composition of grains and intergranular precipitates, and the general behavior of the spatial distribution of the solidification lines. While X-ray computed tomography evidenced qualitative details about the surface roughness and internal defects, neutron tomography showed excellent ability in imaging the spatial density distribution within the component. The anisotropy of the density was attributed to the material building orientation during the 3D printing process. Density variations suggest the possibility of defect pathways, which could affect high vacuum performances. In addition, these results highlight the importance of considering building orientation in the design for additive manufacturing for UHV applications.