High-resolution micro-CT as a tool for 3D surface roughness measurement of 3D additive manufactured porous structures

Since commercially available profiling systems fail when determining the surface roughness of 3D additive manufactured porous structures, a novel protocol for surface roughness quantification of these porous structures has been developed based on high-resolution micro-CT images. The influence of the noise in the images and the spatial image resolution on the accuracy of the micro-CT-based roughness measurements has been investigated by comparing the roughness parameters of 2D flat substrates determined both with commercially available (optical and contact) profiling systems and the microCT-based roughness measurement protocol. This comparison showed that micro-CT can be applied accurately and in a robust manner for surface roughness quantification of 3D additive manufactured porous materials, but that depending on the dimensions of the roughness, the micro-CT acquisition parameters need to be fine-tuned.