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. 2022 Jul 31;60(4):371-386.
doi: 10.2486/indhealth.2021-0114. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Particle measurements of metal additive manufacturing to assess working occupational exposures: a comparative analysis of selective laser melting, laser metal deposition and hybrid laser metal deposition

Enrico Oddone  1   2 , Roberta Pernetti  1 , Maria Lorena Fiorentino  3 , Elena Grignani  3 , Daniele Tamborini  4 , Gianluca Alaimo  5 , Ferdinando Auricchio  6 , Barbara Previtali  4 , Marcello Imbriani  1   2
Affiliations

Particle measurements of metal additive manufacturing to assess working occupational exposures: a comparative analysis of selective laser melting, laser metal deposition and hybrid laser metal deposition

Enrico Oddone et al. Ind Health. .

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a measurement campaign for assessing the release of particles and the potential exposure of workers in metal additive manufacturing. The monitoring deals with three environments, i.e., two academic laboratories and one production site, while printing different metallic alloys for chemical composition and size. The monitored devices implement different metal 3D printing processes, named Selective Laser Melting, Laser Metal Deposition and Hybrid Laser Metal Deposition, providing a wide overview of the current laser-based Additive Manufacturing technologies. Despite showing the generation of metal powders during the printing processes, the usual measurements based on gravimetric analysis did not highlight concentrations higher than the international exposure limits for the selected metals (i.e., chromium, cobalt, iron, nickel, and copper). Additional data, collected through a cascade impactor and particle counter coupled with the achievements from previous measurements reported in literature, indicate that during the printing operations, fine and ultrafine metal particles might be generated. Finally, the authors introduced a preliminary characterisation of the particles released during the different phases of the investigated AM processes (powder charging, printing, part cleaning and support removal), highlighting how the different operations may affect the particle size and concentration.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Fine particles; Metal particle exposure; Metal particle release; Occupational health.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Comparison between the concentration measured in a background environment and in the rooms where the 3D printers are located.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Results of the particle size characterization with cascade impactor for the printers GFM_SLM and GFM_HYB.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Real-time measurements of 0.3 µm, 0.5 µm and 1 µm particles concentration in for GFM_SLM for two consecutive days.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Real-time measurements of 0.3 µm, 0.5 µm and 1 µm particles concentration in MI_LMD for one printing day (15.07.2020).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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