Abstract: Systems and methods for deliberate defect introduction in additive manufacturing are disclosed. In one embodiment, a robotic additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing robot, the additive manufacturing robot including a robotic arm, a welder system mounted to the robotic arm and including a welding tip configured to deposit a consumable electrode wire onto an additively-manufactured article, a signals data storage system configured to receive from the welder system one or more signals indicative of a voltage and a current and to store the signals as a time series, a defect introduction system configured to receive an interrupt signal and to trigger a release mechanism configured to disrupt shielding gas around the welding tip based upon the interrupt signal, and a clock configured to provide a clock signal to the signals data storage system and the defect introduction system.