Quantification of Part Surface Quality: Application to Selective Laser Sintering

Quantifying faults in manufacturing processes is a crucial concern, particularly in new manufacturing processes where continual product improvement is desired. We present an approach to incrementally diagnose fault patterns on surfaces of product components. Contemporary experimental and surface-analysis techniques are adapted at each step of the approach. Specifically, a maturing layeredmanufacturing process, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), is investigated. The paper concludes with a summary of fault mechanisms on SLS parts, implementation issues for improving part quality, and insights for applying our approach to other processes.