Powder flow measurement in additive manufacturing systems

A method comprising:

• additively manufacturing a component via a blown powder additive manufacturing process, wherein the blown powder additive manufacturing process includes adding material via a powder delivery device to a build surface of the component in sequential layers, and wherein the blown powder additive manufacturing process forms a final component composed of the sequential layers on the build surface;
• and
• monitoring a powder stream during the blown powder additive manufacturing process by at least:
• illuminating, by an illumination device, at least some of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component;
• imaging, by an imaging device, the illuminated powder at an image plane between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component to generate image data;
• receiving, by one or more computing devices, the image data representing illuminated powder of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component;
• generating, by the one or more computing devices, a representation of the powder stream based on the imaged powder;
• and
• outputting, by the one or more computing devices, the representation of the powder stream for display at a display device.

An additive manufacturing system, comprising:

• a powder delivery device configured to direct a powder stream toward a build surface of a component during a blown powder additive manufacturing process, wherein the powder delivery device defines a longitudinal axis oriented toward the build surface, and wherein the blown powder additive manufacturing process forms a final component composed of sequential layers on the build surface;
• and
• a powder flow monitoring system configured to monitor the powder stream during the blown powder additive manufacturing process, the powder flow monitoring system comprising:
• an illumination device configured to illuminate at least some of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component, wherein the powder delivery device defines a longitudinal axis oriented toward the build surface;
• an imaging device configured to image the illuminated powder at an image plane between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component to generate image data, the imaging device being positioned adjacent to the longitudinal axis;
• and
• one or more computing devices configured to, during the blown powder additive manufacturing process:
• receive the image data representing the illuminated powder of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface of the component;
• generate a representation of the powder stream based on the image data;
• and
• output the representation of the powder stream for display at a display device.