Abstract
The performance characterization of the manufacturing processes for additive manufacturing (AM) systems is a significant task for their standardization and implementation in the industry. Also, there is a large diversity of materials used in different AM processes. In the present paper, a methodology is proposed to evaluate, in different directions, the performance of an AM process and material characterization in terms of surface quality. This methodology consists of eight steps, based on a new surface inspection artifact and basic artifact orientations. The proposed artifact with several design configurations fits different AM systems sizes and meets the needs of customers. The effects of main factors on the surface roughness of up-facing platens of the artifacts are investigated using the statistical design of experiments. The proposed methodology is validated by a case study focused on PolyJet material jetting technology. Samples are manufactured of photopolymer resins and post-processed. Three factors (i.e., artifact orientation, platen orientation, and finish type) are considered for the investigation. The case study results show that the platen orientation, finish type, and their interaction have a significant influence on the surface roughness (Ra). The best Ra roughness results were obtained for the glossy finish type in the range of 0.5–4 μm.
Highlights
The results of the proposed methodology for the polymer jetting (PolyJet) process on the Objet EDEN 350 PolyJet machine were analyzed taking into account the following factors:
The new test artifact allowed the model material consumption to be reduced by 83% compared to the truncheon which is used for roughness investigation in most additive manufacturing (AM) technologies
Base results of the studystudy showed that the measurement system system is acceptable if the percentage of variance components is less than. This is acceptable if the percentage of variance components is less than 1%. This condition wascondition satisfied was satisfied formeasured, each artifact measured, with proven, repeatability proven, whereby the roughness device for each artifact with repeatability whereby the roughness device variation was variation was much smaller than the variation of the surface roughness of the parts manufactured much smaller than the variation of the surface roughness of the parts manufactured by the AM
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) [1] techniques garner much interest within many fields, such as aerospace, automotive, and medical, based on their flexibility given to designers to fabricate complex structures, which are hard to fabricate using conventional methods. By achieving lightweight structures that do not require molding and tooling, AM saves time, cost, and effort. AM plays an important role in hybrid manufacturing and smart factories [2], and it is a key technology in the implementation of the new industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 [3]. AM has a multi-disciplinary characteristic and its standardization is essential for the industrial sector. The main organizations which are working and collaborating to standardize the processes of AM are the International Organization for Standardization, the technical committee ISO/TC 261 (creation date 2011), the American Society for Testing and Materials, the group ASTM F42 (formed in 2009), and the European Committee for Standardization, the technical committee CEN/TC 438
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