Additive manufacturing quality control systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017136702-A1
Application number	US-201514939284-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 12, 2015
Priority date	Nov 12, 2015
Publication date	May 18, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method includes receiving an image from an optical imaging device disposed in operative communication with an additive manufacturing machine, wherein the image includes at least part of a build area of the additive manufacturing machine, determining a reflectance of at least a portion the build area based on the image to create reflectance data, and determining a quality of one or more of an additive manufacturing process and/or product based on the reflectance data. The method can further include converting the image to greyscale if the image is not in greyscale.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving an image from an optical imaging device disposed in operative communication with an additive manufacturing machine, wherein the image includes at least part of a build area of the additive manufacturing machine; determining a reflectance of at least a portion the build area based on the image to create reflectance data; and determining a quality of one or more of an additive manufacturing process and/or product based on the reflectance data.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising converting the image to greyscale if the image is not in greyscale.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the reflectance includes determining a contrast or darkness of at least a portion of the build area in the image.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the reflectance includes determining the contrast or darkness for discrete pixels or groups of pixels of the image.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the reflectance includes assigning a reflectance value to each pixel or each groups of pixels based on the contrast or darkness thereof to create the reflectance data.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quality includes comparing the reflectance data with reference data to determine whether the reflectance data is within a predetermined range of the reference data.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quality includes determining if a powder recoat on the build area is incomplete.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising one or more of alerting a user or causing the additive manufacturing machine to recoat the build area.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quality includes determining if an additively manufactured product includes one or more of burned material, excessive porosity, missing portions, or is not shaped properly.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the quality includes correlating the reflectance data with reference build location data for the additively manufactured product.

11 . A system, comprising:
an optical device; and a controller configured to control an additive manufacturing process and to execute non-transitory computer readable instructions stored on a memory thereof, the computer readable instructions including:
receiving an image from the optical imaging device disposed in operative communication with an additive manufacturing machine, wherein the image includes at least part of a build area of the additive manufacturing machine;
determining a reflectance of at least a portion the build area based on the image to create reflectance data; and
determining a quality of one or more of an additive manufacturing process and/or product based on the reflectance data.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer readable instructions further include converting the image to greyscale if the image is not in greyscale.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein determining the reflectance includes determining a contrast or darkness of at least a portion of the build area in the image.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein determining the reflectance includes determining the contrast or darkness for discrete pixels or groups of pixels of the image.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein determining the reflectance includes assigning a reflectance value to each pixel or each groups of pixels based on the contrast or darkness thereof to create the reflectance data.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the quality includes comparing the reflectance data with reference data to determine whether the reflectance data is within a predetermined range of the reference data.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the quality includes determining if a powder recoat on the build area is incomplete.

18 . The system of claim 17 , further comprising one or more of alerting a user or causing the additive manufacturing machine to recoat the build area.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the quality includes determining if an additively manufactured product includes one or more of burned material, excessive porosity, missing portions, or is not shaped properly.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the quality includes correlating the reflectance data with reference build location data for the additively manufactured product.

Assignees

• Hamilton Sundstrand Corp

Inventors

• Giulietti Diana
• Versluys Kiley J

Classifications

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• G05B2219/50064

  Camera inspects workpiece for errors, correction of workpiece at desired position · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title