New Standard for Metal Powder Bed Fusion Surface Texture Measurement and Characterisation

Abstract

As metal additive manufacturing has been increasingly accepted as a viable method of industrial manufacture, there has been a significant uptake in manufacturers wishing to verify and test their parts through analysis of part surface. However, various studies have shown that metal additive surfaces tend to exhibit highly complex features and, thus, represent a challenge to those wishing to undertake measurement and characterisation. Over the past decade, good practice in metal additive surface measurement and characterisation have been developed, ultimately resulting in the creation of a new standard guide, ASTM F3624-23, which summarises that good practice. Here, we explain the background and rationale for the creation of this standard and provide an overview of the contents of the standard. An example case study is then presented, showing the worked good practice guidance in a metal additive surface measurement and characterisation task, namely, a comparative measurement of an example surface using two different instruments. Finally, considerations for future versions of the standard are presented, explaining the need to develop further good practice for novel instruments and to focus on feature-based characterisation approaches.