Layer-by-layer Inspection of 3D Print using X-ray Computed Tomography

抄録

Inspection of 3D prints using 3D scanners becomes important as the range of applications of 3D printing becomes greater. Since the typical 3D printing is layer-by-layer manufacturing, a layer-by-layer inspection is intuitive for 3D prints. However, the posture of the object in the scan data is unknown, so we need to estimate the build direction first to locate the positions of layers. In this research, we use X-ray computed tomography to investigate the geometric features of the 3D print made by Fused Deposition Modeling and provide a method to estimates the build direction of 3D print based on the features. A rough estimate of the build direction is obtained first based on the complete shape. Then, we remove the unpredictable parts of the 3D print based on the rough estimation and achieve accurate estimation based on the remaining parts. By checking the slices perpendicular to the estimated build direction, a layer-by-layer inspection is achieved where the user can investigate the interior structure of the 3D print. The proposed method lets the build direction can be estimated only based on the scan data, which makes the layer-by-layer inspection available for 3D prints without prior knowledge (e.g., CAD model).