| abstract |
An additive manufacturing apparatus (10) and process including selectively heating a processing plane of a bed of powdered material (14) that includes a powdered metal material (14'), and may also include a powdered flux material (14''). The heating may be accomplished by directing an energy beam, such as a laser beam (20), toward a processing plane (27) of the bed. One or more masking elements (61, 62) are disposed between a source (18) of the beam and the processing plane; and the masking elements are variable to change a beam pattern at the processing plane according to a predetermined shape of a component (22) to be formed or repaired. |