APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CALIBRATING ON-AXIS TEMPERATURE SENSORS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

1 . A method of calibration in an additive manufacturing system, the method comprising:

measuring an amount of energy radiated from a black body source at a first wavelength;

measuring an amount of energy radiated from the blackbody source at a second wavelength, the second wavelength being spaced apart from the first wavelength; and

generating a relationship between a ratio of the amount of energy radiated at the first wavelength to the amount of energy radiated at the second wavelength.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring an amount of energy radiated from the black body source at the first wavelength is performed by a first photo detector, and the measuring an amount of energy radiated from the black body source at the second wavelength is performed by a second photo detector.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the measuring an amount of energy radiated from the black body source at the first wavelength comprises collecting first voltages generated by the first photo detector in response to receiving the radiated energy from the black body source.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the measuring an amount of energy radiated from the black body source at the second wavelength comprises collecting second voltages generated by the second photo detector in response to receiving the radiated energy from the black body source.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the relationship comprises generating a ratio of first voltages to second voltages.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the black body source is positioned where a melt pool on a build plane of an additive manufacturing system would be during an operation of the additive manufacturing system.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the black body source comprises a halogen lamp.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, using the relationship, variations in a temperature of a build plane of an additive manufacturing system based upon a ratio of energy radiated at the first wavelength to energy radiated at the second wavelength.

9 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising determining a temperature of a melt pool on a build plane of an additive manufacturing system by measuring amounts of energy radiated by the melt pool at the first and second wavelengths, and using the ratio of the first voltages to the second voltages to determine the temperature of melt pool.

10 . A calibration apparatus comprising:

first and second optical sensors arranged to record an intensity of radiation emitted from a build region of an additive manufacturing system at a first bandwidth and a second bandwidth, respectively;

a black body source;

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and comprising instructions executable by the processor, the instructions directing the processor to:

collect measured amount of energy, by the first optical sensor, radiated from the black body source at the first bandwidth;

collect measured amount of energy, by the second optical sensor, radiated from the black body source at the second bandwidth; and

generate a calibration relationship based on a ratio of the collected measured amount of energy radiated at the first bandwidth to the collected measured amount of energy radiated at the second bandwidth.

11 . The calibration apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first and second optical sensors are first and second photo detectors, respectively.

12 . The calibration apparatus of claim 11 , wherein generating the calibration relationship comprises generating a ratio of first generated voltages by the first photo detector for known black body source temperatures to second generated voltages by the second photo detector for known black body source temperatures.

13 . The calibration apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the black body source is positioned where the build region on a build plane of the additive manufacturing system would be during an operation of the additive manufacturing system.

14 . The calibration apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the black body source comprises a tungsten strip lamp.

15 . The calibration apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions direct the processor further to determine variations in a temperature of a build plane of the additive manufacturing system based upon a ratio of an amount of energy radiated at the first bandwidth to an amount of energy radiated at the second bandwidth.

16 . The calibration apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions direct the processor further to determine a temperature of the build region of the additive manufacturing system based on a ratio of an amount of energy radiated by the build region at the first bandwidth to an amount of energy radiated at the second bandwidth during an operation of the additive manufacturing system by using the calibration relationship.

17 . A method of calibration, the method comprising:

generating first voltages, by a first photo detector, in response to receiving an amount of energy radiated from a blackbody source at a first wavelength, the black body source being at a known temperature;

generating second voltages, by a second photo detector, in response to receiving an amount of energy radiated from a blackbody source ata second wavelength, the blackbody source being at the known temperature; and

generating a calibration relationship based on a ratio of the first voltages to the second voltages.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining, using the calibration relationship, variations in a temperature of a build plane of an additive manufacturing system based upon a ratio of energy radiated at the first wavelength to energy radiated at the second wavelength.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the black body source comprises a halogen lamp.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the black body source is positioned where a molten region on a build plane of an additive manufacturing system would be during an operation of the additive manufacturing system.