Application of X-ray Computed Tomography for Assessment of Additively Manufactured Products

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a novel method for fabricating parts from three-dimensional model data, usually by joining materials in layer upon layer fashion. The freedom of design in this method has resulted in new possibilities for fabrication of parts with complex geometries. Manufacturing nearnet- shape parts as well as geometrically complex components such as periodic cellular structures that are used in lightweight structural components, has made AM a promising manufacturing method in industry. Despite the numerous advantages of the AM methods, the imperfections associated with the manufacturing processes has limited the application of additively manufactured parts. Porosity and surface texture of AM parts especially those fabricated using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) methods, have been studied in this thesis. It was observed that the mentioned imperfections have a considerable impact on the mechanical performance of thin-wall structures that are the constituting units of surface-based periodic cellular structures. The quality of internal structure in components fabricated using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) and its effect on the strength of those components were the other issues investigated in this thesis. In order to investigate the mechanical strength of AM parts, as the result of mentioned mesoscale imperfections, appropriate evaluation methods that are capable of quantitatively assessing these imperfections are required. X-ray Computed Tomography (CT), a non-destructive evaluation method, has shown high capabilities for providing useful and reliable geometrical information of both internal and external features of AM components. The challenges involved with the application of CT for assessment of AM component are also studied in this thesis. Apart from the contributions of this thesis on how CT may be used in AM field, the results of this thesis has provided insight into the design process of cellular structures. This thesis has provided essential information about the strength dependency of thin-walls as the result of mesoscale fabrication defects and how these defects are dependent on the selected material and design of the structure