Powder-blown Directed Energy Distribution Additive Manufacturing systems often feed
powdered metal into a melt pool generated by a laser. As the laser is moved, the melt pool
solidifies, leaving behind a deposit. Such depositions may be built up into full components or used
to add features on existing components. Distribution and uniformity of the powder flow is critical
to achieve uniform and predictable depositions. For example, small deviations at the minute-level

(cf. the resolution limit of the deposition) can propagate to gross deviations at the component-
level. Meanwhile, large deviations in the powder flow can be yet unobservable to the naked eye,

but produce catastrophic effects within small depositions. Such depositions are common to repair
applications targeted at ARL Penn State, wherein relatively small deposits are created on larger,
critical components. Novel and re-purposed OEM tools are compared to study these powder flow
behaviors, providing new insights into process variability.