text: Selective laser melting (also known as powder bed fusion) is an additive manufacturing procedure used to create intricately detailed forms from a CAD file. A shape is designed and then converted into slices. These slices are sent to a laser writer to print the final product. In brief, a bed of metal powder is prepared, and a slice is formed in the powder bed by a high energy laser sintering the particles together. The powder bed moves downwards, and a new batch of metal powder is rolled over the top. This layer is then sintered with the laser, and the process is repeated until all slices have been processed. Additive manufacturing can leave pores behind. Many products undergo a heat treatment or hot isostatic pressing procedure to densify the product and reduce porosity.