Dimensional and Geometrical Quality Enhancement in Additively Manufactured Parts: Systematic Framework and A Case...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Quality Control

Background:

• Additive Manufacturing (AM) needs to achieve industrial-grade quality and cost-competitiveness for medium to large batch production.
• Fulfilling dimensional and geometric requirements for medium batch AM parts is a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a systematic, three-step optimization framework for AM part dimensional and geometric accuracy.
• To enhance the quality of AM parts for medium batch production.

Main Methods:

• Analyzing work characteristics within Operation and Verification Spaces to define achievable quality.
• Determining the influence of controllable factors on quality indicators for optimal process configuration.
• Optimizing part design at the definition level to meet quality requirements.

Main Results:

• A case study on optimizing surgical-steel tibia resection guides manufactured by Laser-Power Bed Fusion (L-PBF) demonstrated the framework's utility.
• The proposed approach successfully improved part quality to meet specified requirements.

Conclusions:

• The systematic framework effectively addresses dimensional and geometric challenges in medium batch AM.
• This methodology enables Additive Manufacturing to meet industrial quality standards for specific applications.