Simultaneous extraction of profile and surface roughness of 3D SLM components using fringe projection method

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Yuan-Fang Chen ◽  
Yu-Lung Lo ◽  
Ze-Hong Lin ◽  
Jui-Yu Lin

Purpose The purpose of this study was expected to simultaneously monitor the surface roughness of each solidified layer, the surface roughness of the metal powder, the outline of the solidified layer, and the height difference between the solidified layer and the metal powder. Design/methodology/approach In the proposed approach, color images with red, green and blue fringes are used to measure the shape of the built object using a three-step phase-shift algorithm and phase-unwrapping method. In addition, the surface roughness is extracted from the speckle information in the captured image using a predetermined autocorrelation function. Findings The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed system were validated by comparing it with a commercial system for an identical set of samples fabricated by a selective laser melting process. The maximum and minimum errors between the two systems are approximately 24% and 0.8%, respectively. Originality/value In the additive manufacturing field, the authors are the first to use fringe detection technology to simultaneously measure the profile of the printed layer and its surface roughness.

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Joguet ◽  
Sophie Costil ◽  
Hanlin Liao ◽  
Yoann Danlos

Purpose – The purpose of this paper consists in the optimization and understanding of the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) manufacturing process of biomaterials, such as T40 and CoCrMo, as scaffolds. Moreover, process optimization is also challenging, with regards to the huge number of parameters and their influence on the finished product. Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for an exploratory study using Taguchi analysis method to precisely identify the most relevant parameters and justify the energy estimation. Findings – The study showed that SLM fits perfectly with the T40 and CoCrMo part manufacturing. This method allowed to have a complete overview of all the potential applications of SLM for implant manufacturing. Originality/value – With this research approach, the results may be generalized to other material and showed a good theoretical approach.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Yang ◽  
Dingyong He ◽  
Zengjie Wang ◽  
Zhen Tan ◽  
Hanguang Fu ◽  
...  

Purpose In this research, the highly dense bulk Cu-5Sn alloy specimens were fabricated using selective laser melting (SLM). This study aims to establish the relationship between laser power (LP), scanning speed (SS) and hatch space (HS) with surface roughness (Ra) and density. To obtain Cu-5Sn alloy formed parts with high strength and low surface roughness. The microstructure and mechanical properties of SLMed Cu-5Sn were investigated. Design/methodology/approach The relative density (RD) was optimized using the response surface method (RSM) and analysis of variance. First, the Ra of SLMed formed specimens was studied to optimize the forming process parameters with a good surface. Then, the dense specimens were studied by ANOVA and the RSM to obtain dense specimens for mechanical property analysis. Findings Dense specimens were obtained by RSM and ANOVA. The tensile properties were compared with the casted specimens. The yield and ultimate strengths increased from 71 and 131 MPa for the cast specimens to 334 and 489 MPa for the SLMed specimens, respectively. The ductility increased significantly from 11% to 23%, due to the refined microstructure of the SLMed specimens, as well as the formation of many twin crystals. Originality/value The Ra, RD and mechanical properties of SLM specimens Cu-5Sn were systematically studied, and the influencing factors were analyzed together. This study provides a theoretical and practical example to improve the surface quality and RD.


Author(s):  
Filippo Simoni ◽  
Andrea Huxol ◽  
Franz-Josef Villmer

AbstractIn the last years, Additive Manufacturing, thanks to its capability of continuous improvements in performance and cost-efficiency, was able to partly replace and redefine well-established manufacturing processes. This research is based on the idea to achieve great cost and operational benefits especially in the field of tool making for injection molding by combining traditional and additive manufacturing in one process chain. Special attention is given to the surface quality in terms of surface roughness and its optimization directly in the Selective Laser Melting process. This article presents the possibility for a remelting process of the SLM parts as a way to optimize the surfaces of the produced parts. The influence of laser remelting on the surface roughness of the parts is analyzed while varying machine parameters like laser power and scan settings. Laser remelting with optimized parameter settings considerably improves the surface quality of SLM parts and is a great starting point for further post-processing techniques, which require a low initial value of surface roughness.


Author(s):  
Chao Ma ◽  
Jingzhou Zhao ◽  
Chezheng Cao ◽  
Ting-Chiang Lin ◽  
Xiaochun Li

It is of great scientific and technical interests to conduct fundamental studies on the laser interactions with nanoparticles-reinforced metals. This part of the study presents the effects of nanoparticles on surface tension and viscosity, thus the heat transfer and fluid flow, and eventually the laser melting process. In order to determine the surface tension and viscosity of nanoparticles-reinforced metals, an innovative measurement system was developed based on the characteristics of oscillating metal melt drops after laser melting. The surface tensions of Ni/Al2O3 (4.4 vol. %) and Ni/SiC (3.6 vol. %) at ∼1500 °C were 1.39 ± 0.03 N/m and 1.57 ± 0.06 N/m, respectively, slightly lower than that of pure Ni, 1.68 ± 0.04 N/m. The viscosities of these Ni/Al2O3 and Ni/SiC MMNCs at ∼1500 °C were 13.3 ± 0.8 mPa·s and 17.3 ± 3.1 mPa·s, respectively, significantly higher than that of pure Ni, 4.8 ± 0.3 mPa·s. To understand the influences of the nanoparticles-modified thermophysical properties on laser melting, an analytical model was used to theoretically predict the melt pool flows using the newly measured material properties from both Part I and Part II. The theoretical analysis indicated that the thermocapillary flows were tremendously suppressed due to the significantly increased viscosity after the addition of nanoparticles. To test the hypothesis that laser polishing could significantly benefit from this new phenomenon, systematic laser polishing experiments at various laser pulse energies were conducted on Ni/Al2O3 (4.4 vol. %) and pure Ni for comparison. The surface roughness of the Ni/Al2O3 was reduced from 323 nm to 72 nm with optimized laser polishing parameters while that of pure Ni only from 254 nm to 107 nm. The normalized surface roughness reduced by nearly a factor of two with the help of nanoparticles, validating the feasibility to tune thermophysical properties and thus control laser-processing outcomes by nanoparticles. It is expected that the nanoparticle approach can be applied to many laser manufacturing technologies to improve the process capability and broaden the application space.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1506-1515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Wei ◽  
Zhengying Wei ◽  
Zhne Chen ◽  
Jun Du ◽  
Yuyang He ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to study numerically the influence of the applied laser energy density and the porosity of the powder bed on the thermal behavior of the melt and the resultant instability of the liquid track. Design/methodology/approach A three-dimensional model was proposed to predict local powder melting process. The model accounts for heat transfer, melting, solidification and evaporation in granular system at particle scale. The proposed model has been proved to be a good approach for the simulation of the laser melting process. Findings The results shows that the applied laser energy density has a significantly influence on the shape of the molten pool and the local thermal properties. The relative low or high input laser energy density has the main negative impact on the stability of the scan track. Decreasing the porosity of the powder bed lowers the heat dissipation in the downward direction, resulting in a shallower melt pool, whereas pushing results in improvement in liquid track quality. Originality/value The randomly packed powder bed is calculated using discrete element method. The powder particle information including particle size distribution and packing density is taken into account in placement of individual particles. The effect of volumetric shrinkage and evaporation is considered in numerical model.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cloots ◽  
Livia Zumofen ◽  
Adriaan Bernardus Spierings ◽  
Andreas Kirchheim ◽  
Konrad Wegener

Purpose For geometries exhibiting overhanging surfaces, support structures are needed to dissipate process heat and to minimize geometrical distortions attributed to internal stresses. The use of support structures is often time- and cost-consuming. For this reason, this study aims to propose an approach which minimizes the use of such structures. Design/methodology/approach For minimizing the use of support structures, process parameters in combination with a contour-like exposure strategy are developed to realize support-less overhanging structures of less than 35°. These parameters are implemented in a shell-core strategy, which follows the idea of applying different processing strategies to the critical (overhanging) shell and the uncritical core of the part. Thereby, the core is processed with standard parameters, aiming a dense material. On the critical shell, optimized processing parameters are applied, reaching good results in terms of surface quality, especially at extreme overhang situations. Findings The results show that the selective laser melting (SLM) technology is able to realize support-less overhanging surfaces by choosing suitable scan strategies and process parameters. Particularly good results are always obtained when the exposure direction of the shell is parallel to the contour of the sample. Originality/value The validity of the results is demonstrated through the successful reproduction of the build strategy on two commercial SLM machines, reaching support-free builds of surfaces with an angle to the horizontal of less than or equal to 30°.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Klingvall Ek ◽  
Lars-Erik Rännar ◽  
Mikael Bäckstöm ◽  
Peter Carlsson

Purpose The surface roughness of products manufactured using the additive manufacturing (AM) technology of electron beam melting (EBM) has a special characteristic. Different product applications can demand rougher or finer surface structure, so the purpose of this study is to investigate the process parameters of EBM to find out how they affect surface roughness. Design/methodology/approach EBM uses metal powder to manufacture metal parts. A design of experiment plan was used to describe the effects of the process parameters on the average surface roughness of vertical surfaces. Findings The most important electron beam setting for surface roughness, according to this study, is a combination of “speed and current” in the contours. The second most important parameter is “contour offset”. The interaction between the “number of contours” and “contour offset” also appears to be important, as it shows a much higher probability of being active than any other interaction. The results show that the “line offset” is not important when using contours. Research limitations/implications This study examined “contour offset”, “number of contours”, “speed in combination with current” and “line offset”, which are process parameters controlling the electron beam. Practical implications The surface properties could have an impact on the product’s performance. A reduction in surface processing will not only save time and money but also reduce the environmental impact. Originality/value Surface properties are important for many products. New themes containing process parameters have to be developed when introducing new materials to EBM manufacturing. During this process, it is very important to understand how the electron beam affects the melt pool.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teodora Marcu ◽  
Cinzia Menapace ◽  
Luca Girardini ◽  
Dan Leordean ◽  
Catalin Popa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to obtain by means of selective laser melting and then characterize biocomposites of medical-grade Ti6Al7Nb with hydroxyapatite (2 and 5 vol.%) and without hydroxyapatite, as reference. Design/methodology/approach – Rectangular samples were manufactured with the same scanning strategy; the laser power was between 50 W and 200 W. Processed samples were analysed by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and microhardness. Findings – The results showed that despite the very short processing times, hydroxyapatite decomposed and interacted with the base Ti6Al7Nb material. The decomposition degree was found to depend on the applied laser power. From the porosity and bulk microstructure point of view, the most appropriate materials for the purposed medical applications were Ti6Al7Nb with hydroxyapatite processed with a laser power of 50 W. Originality/value – The originality of the present work consists in the study of the behaviour and interaction of hydroxyapatite additive with the Ti6Al7Nb base powder under selective laser melting conditions, as depending on the applied laser power.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-667
Author(s):  
Nicholas R. Fry ◽  
Robert C. Richardson ◽  
Jordan H. Boyle

Purpose This paper aims to present a multi-axis additive robot manufacturing system (ARMS) and demonstrate its beneficial capabilities. Design/methodology/approach ARMS was constructed around two robot arms and a fused filament fabrication (FFF) extruder. Quantitative experiments are conducted to investigate the effect of printing at different orientations with respect to gravity, the effect of dynamically changing build orientation with respect to the build tray when printing overhanging features, the effect of printing curved parts using curved, conformal layers. These capabilities are combined to print an integrated demonstrator showing potential practical benefits of the system. Findings Orientation with respect to gravity has no effect on print quality; dynamically changing build orientation allows overhangs up to 90° to be cleanly printed without support structures; printing an arch with conformal layers significantly increases its strength compared to conventional printing. Research limitations/implications The challenge of automatic slicing algorithms has not been addressed for multi-axis printing. It is shown that ARMS could eventually enable printing of fully-functional prototypes with embedded components. Originality/value This work is the first to prove that the surface roughness of an FFF part is independent of print orientation with respect to gravity. The use of two arms creates a novel system with more degrees of freedom than existing multi-axis printers, enabling studies on printing orientation relationships and printing around inserts. It also adds to the emerging body of multi-axis literature by verifying that curved layers improve the strength of an arch which is steeply curved and printed with the nozzle remaining normal to the curvature.


Author(s):  
M. Awais ◽  
T. Hayat ◽  
M. Mustafa ◽  
K. Bhattacharyya ◽  
M. Asif Farooq

Purpose – The aim of this work is to analyze the combined effects of melting, thermal-diffusion and diffusion-thermo on the flow of non-Newtonian fluid. Design/methodology/approach – An efficient approach namely homotopy analysis method is applied to compute the solution of the non-linear problem. Moreover, numerical results using MATLAB function bvp4c are also computed. Findings – Main findings are an increase in the melting process corresponding to increase in the velocity and the boundary layer thickness. However, surface heat and mass transfer decrease by increasing the values of melting parameter M. Originality/value – Combined effects of thermal-diffusion and diffusion-thermo are analyzed and the solutions are computed both numerically and analytically. Some deduced results can be obtained in a limiting sense.


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