Defect detection for additive manufacturing systems

An additive manufacturing system, comprising:

• a scan head;
• a build plane, wherein the scan head is arranged to traverse the build plane to build a part;
• a heat source configured to transmit energy through the scan head and toward the build plane to generate a melt pool;
• an optical sensor configured to receive light through the scan head, wherein the light is emitted by the melt pool;
• and
• a processor configured to execute computer code that that causes the additive manufacturing system to carry out an additive manufacturing operation to produce a part, the additive manufacturing operation comprising:
• depositing a layer of metal material on the build plane;
• melting a portion of the layer of metal material using the heat source to form the melt pool;
• monitoring an amount of energy emitted by the melt pool using the optical sensor, wherein the optical sensor generates a related dataset;
• comparing the related dataset with a known-good range of a baseline dataset to determine whether one or more portions of the part may include a manufacturing defect;
• and
• in response to the comparing the dataset, changing a parameter of the heat source.