Laser Additive Manufacturing Processes: From Cladding to Complex Parts

Professor Mazumder who passed away in 2021 was by any measure one of the most influential thinkers and scientists in the field of Laser Materials Processing. From his 400 or so publications one can see a genius at work. His mathematical models became so sophisticated that they could replicate the waves on a weld pool and inside the keyhole. He was one of the pioneers to recognize that the laser could produce nanoparticles through ablation at a time when no one thought nanoparticles would lead to much. Then came laser cladding and the realization that cladding repeatedly in one place could build features leading to the subject of additive manufacturing. Here again his mathematical models pave the way to accurately track the solidification fronts and predict the thermodynamic states of the liquid and solid phases during direct metal depositions. He pioneered a new method incorporating plasma spectroscopy for monitoring and controlling multilayer laser cladding as well as laser welding. It is, however, his work in direct metal depositions from cladding and additive manufacturing to the foundation of process diagnostics that we would like to celebrate in this special honorary collection.

Guest Editors: Professor Aravinda Kar and Emeritus Professor William M. Steen