Established in January 2026 by the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, the laboratory focuses on key technologies for the additive manufacturing of high-performance metal components. Centered on low-stress and intelligent metal additive manufacturing technologies, it aims to promote the industrial application of metal additive manufacturing in aerospace, energy equipment, medical devices, and other related fields. The laboratory prioritizes breakthroughs in several critical areas, including intelligent optimization methods for material composition, high-fidelity simulation of the additive manufacturing process, online intelligent monitoring and autonomous decision-making, novel low-stress metal additive manufacturing processes and technologies, and the development of key subsystems and large-scale equipment for metal additive manufacturing. By establishing a comprehensive innovation system that spans "fundamental research - technology development - product incubation - market application," the laboratory supports national strategy for manufacturing upgrading.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University serve as the academic leadership and technical support pillars of the laboratory. They are primarily responsible for fundamental research and cutting-edge technology development, including basic studies on the low-stress forming mechanisms, multi-physics field coupling simulations, and intelligent process optimization in metal additive manufacturing. They also develop new application-oriented additive manufacturing materials (such as ultra-high-strength steels and refractory metal alloys) and corresponding evaluation methods. Beijing QuickBeam Technology Co., Ltd., as a co-founding unit of the laboratory, is primarily responsible for technology engineering development and equipment R&D for industrial applications. The company focuses on achieving the independence and performance improvement of core components for metal additive manufacturing equipment, translating technological achievements into low-stress metal additive manufacturing systems and production services.
Organizational structure
Prof. Feng Lin serves as the director of the laboratory, with Prof. Qingyu Shi, Prof. Qianming Gong, Assoc. Prof. Baohua Chang, and General Manager Li Liu serving as deputy directors. The laboratory consists of six divisions:
1. Division of Intelligent Materials Design (Director: Prof. Qianming Gong)
2. Division of Process Computational Modeling and Stress Field Simulation (Director: Prof. Haiyan Zhao)
3. Division of Online Intelligent Monitoring and Quality Control (Director: Assoc. Prof. Baohua Chang)
4. Division of Low-Stress Melt Deposition Additive Manufacturing (Director: Professor Feng Lin)
5. Division of Light Metal Solid-State Additive Manufacturing (Director: Professor Qingyu Shi)
6. Division of Large-Scale High-Efficiency Additive Manufacturing Core Components and Equipment (Director: General Manager Li Liu
The Academic Committee consists of 13 leading experts in metal additive manufacturing from fields of aviation, aerospace, ordnance, and materials. The inaugural Chair of the Academic Committee is Academician Hua ming Wang from Beihang University, with Prof. Baorui Du from the Institute of Engineering Thermo-physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Ming Zhou, Bean of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University, serving as Deputy Chairs.
Research Direction
To address challenges in metal additive manufacturing (AM), such as high residual stress, poor process controllability, and limited material performance, the laboratory focuses on fundamental research, technological innovation, and application development in low-stress, high-efficiency metal AM. Main research areas include:
Intelligent Materials Design: Targeting demanding service environments such as nuclear power and aerospace, this research leverages artificial intelligence and multi-scale computational methods to enable service-condition-driven inverse design of material composition, microstructure, and heterogeneous structures. Corresponding AM processes will be developed to establish an application-oriented paradigm for inverse intelligent materials design and process adaptation. New metallic materials, including refractory metals, high-strength steels, and lightweight alloys for nuclear and aerospace applications, will be developed.
Multi-Scale Process Computational Modeling: Addressing the complex mechanisms and numerous influencing factors in metal AM forming processes, this research investigates the interaction mechanisms between energy beams and powder materials. Multi-physics field computational models encompassing heat transfer, mass transfer, and microstructure evolution during AM forming will be developed, along with an integrated multi-scale, multi-method simulation platform. This will enable efficient, high-fidelity simulation of the AM process and microstructure formation/evolution, providing theoretical and foundational models for material microstructure control and intelligent process control.
Intelligent Process Monitoring: To overcome challenges such as long duration and rapid dynamic changes during the AM forming of large metal components, this research develops key technologies including online monitoring based on multi-information fusion (optical/infrared imaging, backscattered/secondary electron signals) and intelligent process monitoring. Breakthroughs will be achieved in automatic identification and online measurement of process states for various metal AM technologies, including powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, and friction stir additive manufacturing. A digital twin of the metal AM forming process will be constructed.
Residual Stress Control: Focusing on novel low-stress metal AM techniques such as electron beam powder bed fusion and floated powder bed fusion, this research investigates powder bed preheating and temperature control technologies for the liquid metal aided floated powder bed. Models for melt pool solidification, microstructure evolution, and stress distribution will be established. Key technologies such as synchronous electron beam preheating in powder bed fusion and in-situ heat treatment in floated powder bed fusion will be developed. Breakthroughs will be achieved in crack-free additive manufacturing of large components made from non-weldable superalloys, as well as low-distortion additive manufacturing of complex large-size titanium alloy components.
Additive Manufacturing Technology Innovation: To overcome challenges encountered in traditional directed energy beam melting additive manufacturing of light alloys such as aluminum and magnesium (e.g., high cracking tendency, numerous defects, poor performance, and safety concerns), this research develops novel friction stir solid-state additive manufacturing technologies based on melting free processes. High-power friction stir additive manufacturing printing heads and large-scale equipment will be developed. This will address the technical bottlenecks in high-performance aluminum/magnesium alloy additive manufacturing, solve issues related to stress-induced deformation and cracking, and achieve low-stress solid-state additive manufacturing of large-scale, high-performance light alloys.
Core Components and Equipments: To address limitations in domestic electron gun stability and insufficient build dimensions in electron beam additive manufacturing, this research develops ultra-high-voltage, high-precision scanning electron guns and multi-electron-gun array coordinated control technologies. Large-scale (³ 1.5 m) electron beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing equipment will be developed. This will overcome the challenges of efficient, low-distortion powder bed fusion additive manufacturing of large-size titanium alloy aerospace components.
