Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies
The challenges of measuring the surface topography of metallic surfaces produced by additive manufacturing are investigated. The differences between measurements made using various optical and non-optical technologies, including confocal and focus-variation microscopy, coherence scanning interferome...
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| Format: | Article |
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IOP Publishing
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48583/ |
| _version_ | 1848797799672446976 |
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| author | Senin, Nicola Thompson, Adam Leach, Richard K. |
| author_facet | Senin, Nicola Thompson, Adam Leach, Richard K. |
| author_sort | Senin, Nicola |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The challenges of measuring the surface topography of metallic surfaces produced by additive manufacturing are investigated. The differences between measurements made using various optical and non-optical technologies, including confocal and focus-variation microscopy, coherence scanning interferometry and x-ray computed tomography, are examined. As opposed to concentrating on differences which may arise through computing surface texture parameters from measured topography datasets, a comparative analysis is performed focussing on investigation of the quality of the topographic reconstruction of a series of surface features. The investigation is carried out by considering the typical surface features of a metal powder-bed fusion process: weld tracks, weld ripples, attached particles and surface recesses. Results show that no single measurement technology provides a completely reliable rendition of the topographic features that characterise the metal powder-bed fusion process. However, through analysis of measurement discrepancies, light can be shed on where instruments are more susceptible to error, and why differences between measurements occur. The results presented in this work increase the understanding of the behaviour and performance of areal topography measurement, and thus promote the development of improved surface characterisation pipelines. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48583 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:37Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-485832020-05-04T19:00:47Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48583/ Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies Senin, Nicola Thompson, Adam Leach, Richard K. The challenges of measuring the surface topography of metallic surfaces produced by additive manufacturing are investigated. The differences between measurements made using various optical and non-optical technologies, including confocal and focus-variation microscopy, coherence scanning interferometry and x-ray computed tomography, are examined. As opposed to concentrating on differences which may arise through computing surface texture parameters from measured topography datasets, a comparative analysis is performed focussing on investigation of the quality of the topographic reconstruction of a series of surface features. The investigation is carried out by considering the typical surface features of a metal powder-bed fusion process: weld tracks, weld ripples, attached particles and surface recesses. Results show that no single measurement technology provides a completely reliable rendition of the topographic features that characterise the metal powder-bed fusion process. However, through analysis of measurement discrepancies, light can be shed on where instruments are more susceptible to error, and why differences between measurements occur. The results presented in this work increase the understanding of the behaviour and performance of areal topography measurement, and thus promote the development of improved surface characterisation pipelines. IOP Publishing 2017-08-16 Article PeerReviewed Senin, Nicola, Thompson, Adam and Leach, Richard K. (2017) Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies. Measurement Science and Technology, 28 (9). 095003/1-095003/12. ISSN 1361-6501 Surface metrology; Three dimensional topographic features; Additive manufacturing; Metal powder-bed fusion https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/aa7ce2 doi:10.1088/1361-6501/aa7ce2 doi:10.1088/1361-6501/aa7ce2 |
| spellingShingle | Surface metrology; Three dimensional topographic features; Additive manufacturing; Metal powder-bed fusion Senin, Nicola Thompson, Adam Leach, Richard K. Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title | Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title_full | Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title_fullStr | Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title_short | Characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| title_sort | characterisation of the topography of metal additive surface features with different measurement technologies |
| topic | Surface metrology; Three dimensional topographic features; Additive manufacturing; Metal powder-bed fusion |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48583/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48583/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48583/ |