Geometrical deviation identification and prediction method for additive manufacturing

Purpose One major problem preventing further application and benefits from additive manufacturing (AM) nowadays is that AM build parts always end up with poor geometrical quality. To help improving geometrical quality for AM, this study aims to propose geometrical deviation identification and prediction method for AM, which could be used for identifying the factors, forms and values of geometrical deviation of AM parts. Design/methodology/approach This paper applied the skin model-based modal decomposition approach to describe the geometrical deviations of AM and decompose them into different defect modes. On that basis, the approach to propose and extend defect modes was developed. Identification and prediction of the geometrical deviations were then carried out with this method. Finally, a case study with cylinders manufactured by fused deposition modeling was introduced. Two coordinate measuring machine (CMM) machines with different measure methods were used to verify the effectiveness of the methods and modes proposed. Findings The case study results with two different CMM machines are very close, which shows that the method and modes proposed by this paper are very effective. Also, the results indicate that the main geometrical defects are caused by the shrinkage and machine inaccuracy-induced errors which have not been studied enough. Originality/value This work could be used for identifying and predicting the forms and values of AM geometrical deviation, which could help realize the improvement of AM part geometrical quality in design phase more purposefully.