The 1st International Conference on Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing EBAM 2016 with more than 130 participants from 15 different countries all over the world was held from 27 to 29 April 2016 in the Marmorsaal of the Nürnberger Akademie. The conference brought together leading experts, senior and junior scientists from research and industry of electron beam-based additive manufacturing.
The idea to initiate this conference emerged after more than ten years of profound experience with selective electron beam melting by Prof. Carolin Körner, head of Chair of Materials Science and Engineering for Metals (WTM), coordinator of EAM Research Area E, member of the directorial board of Joint Institute of Advanced Materials and Processes (ZMP) including its Application Center VerTec, and scientific manager of the additive manufacturing branch of the Neue Materialien Fürth GmbH (NMF). The interinstitutional additive manufacturing group comprises more than 15 junior scientists focusing on processing and simulation of high-performance materials with the selective electron beam melting process.
The EBAM 2016 is a worldwide unique conference. In contrast to other additive manufacturing conferences emerging around the world, the EBAM 2016 had a specific focus on electron beam-based additive manufacturing technologies. This specialization encouraged premium-quality presentations and discussions on a high scientific level. The success of this idea is reflected by the number of attendees, which was limited due to capacity restrictions of the location.
The most common electron beam-based additive manufacturing technology is selective electron beam melting, where a three dimensional model is divided into many layers of constant thickness, which are sequentially manufactured out of a powder bed by completely melting the powder particles. The conference aimed to discuss specific challenges and opportunities offered by this technology. Within eight sessions, the interdisciplinary exchange of views was encouraged by excellent invited presentations. The topics covered the whole process cycle from powder feedstock via process properties and observations through to post-processing of the manufactured components. A wide range of high-performance materials, like titanium alloys, titanium aluminides or nickel-based superalloys, was focused regarding process strategies and material properties. Additionally, applications of electron beam-based additive manufacturing in research and industry were highlighted. All sessions were enriched by presentations about numerical simulations promoting a better process understanding from electron beam absorption via hydro- and thermodynamics during processing through to component and material properties.
The EBAM 2016 was organized by WTM and administratively supported by EAM. Besides nine invited and more than 25 submitted contributions, the technical program was enriched by research findings from scientists of WTM, ZMP, VerTec and NMF, the EAM Research Area E ‘Engineering of Lightweight Materials’, the Collaborative Research Center 814 – Additive Manufacturing (SFB 814) and the Collaborative Research Center SFB/Transregio 103.
The throughout positive feedback strengthens us in organizing the EBAM 2018 in April 2018 in a larger location to allow for more participants in the growing field of electron beam-based additive manufacturing.