Introduction . Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), also known as selective laser melting, is a high-precision additive manufacturing (AM) method to produce metal components that have superior mechanical properties, and that can use a wider range of metal feedstock materials than other AM methods1. During L-PBF, a layer of powdered metal is spread on a bed, then a laser is used to fuse the powder layer. The molten layer is allowed to cool rapidly, then another thin layer of powder is s...