Applications of Optical Sensors in Additive Manufacturing

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the potential benefits inherent in Additive Manufacturing (AM), technologies related to this concept have not yet met the expected level of adoption largely due to persisting concerns related to the quality of the produced components.

Addressing these issues would require a comprehensive assessment of the manufacturing process and meticulous process control. In this context, the utilization of optical sensors distinguishes itself by its ability to swiftly and non-intrusively collect multifaceted data. Furthermore, integrating these sensors into existing AM machines is relatively straightforward, and they can operate effectively across a wide array of environments.

For this Special Issue of Applied Sciences, "Applications of Optical Sensors in Additive Manufacturing", we would like to send an open invitation to the academic and scientific community to submit scholarly contributions pertaining to the integration and application of optical sensors within the additive manufacturing process. These contributions can be related to the following:

• The improvement of product quality;
• The monitoring of the manufacturing process;
• The integration of optical sensors into AM machines for real‑time or in situ measurements;
• The analysis or processing of data collected from these sensors in the context of AM components or machines.

Dr. Pablo Zapico
Dr. David Blanco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• dimensional and/or geometric assessment of the layers and/or the part
• residual stress detection
• surface defect detection
• sub-surface defect detection
• process monitoring (consistency during extrusion, bed of particles unevenness, environment, etc.)
• raw material or non-used material analysis
• feedstock delivery system monitoring
• data handling and processing (layer contour detection, deep learning, etc.)
• in situ or in-process optical sensor integration