System and method for in-situ x-ray diffraction-based real-time monitoring of microstructure properties of printing objects

An X-ray diffraction (XRD) system for real-time in-situ measurements of microstructure properties of a printing material during 3-D printing process, comprising:

• a source of an X-ray radiation,
• a collimating optic sub-system operatively coupled to the X-ray radiation generated by said source, said collimating optic sub-system being positioned in operative interaction with said X-ray radiation to produce a parallel X-ray beam incident on a physical object manufactured from a 3-dimensional digital model by depositing a number of layers of a printing material in succession, and wherein said parallel X-ray beam, upon impinging on said physical object, produces diffraction radiation directed away from said physical object;
• a reflector sub-system positioned at a predetermined position relative to said physical object, said reflector sub-system having an arcuated substrate of a predetermined shape, and an array of reflector crystals of a predetermined configuration mounted on said arcuated substrate, wherein said reflector sub-system is operatively coupled to said diffraction radiation emanating from said physical object, wherein said diffraction radiation contains peaks of diffraction intensity corresponding to microstructure properties of a crystal structure of said printing material of said physical object, and wherein at said predetermined position of said reflector sub-system relative to said physical object, said peaks of diffraction intensity impinge on and are reflected from corresponding reflector crystals,
• a data acquisition sub-system operatively interacting with said reflector sub-system and configured for capturing the peaks of diffraction intensity reflected from said corresponding reflector crystals, and for producing output signals corresponding to said reflected peaks of diffraction radiation intensity, and
• a computer sub-system operatively coupled to said data acquisition sub-system and configured to compute, in real-time, microstructure properties of said printing material of said physical object during the 3-D printing process based on said output signals.