Real-time thermal monitoring module for laser powder bed
This technology embeds specialized fiber optic sensors inside a metal 3D printer to measure temperature at extremely fine resolution—down to the micrometer scale—beneath the surface of a part as it's being built. A neural network interprets the complex light signals from these sensors to produce detailed temperature maps in real time, something conventional sensor-reading methods can't do accurately. The sensors are designed to survive the extreme heat of laser powder bed fusion printing, and a calibration system uses thermal imaging to train the AI model before deployment. Together, this gives manufacturers unprecedented insight into what's actually happening thermally inside a part during printing, which is the key variable driving defects like porosity and cracking.
What you could build
A sensor-plus-software module that integrates into industrial laser powder bed fusion machines to provide real-time, high-resolution thermal monitoring and process control data; primary buyers would be aerospace and defense manufacturers, medical device companies, and industrial OEMs using metal AM for certified or safety-critical parts.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia's defense and aerospace manufacturing base—including primes and suppliers around Newport News, Northern Virginia, and Radford—using metal AM for certified components would be natural early customers or partners.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Rongxuan Wang, Ruixuan Wang, Zhenyu Kong, Anbo Wang
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed August 11, 2025
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20260042147A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.