Correlation between Computed Tomography and Optical Microscopy Based Porosity Measurements

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing in many areas. Manufacturers are considering it as a replacement to existing or traditional manufacturing methods in many niche applications. As the applications move toward higher volumes, and especially for critical application components, the ability to quickly assess the quality of the built parts is of significant interest. This talk will review the measurement of porosity within AM components, using both optical metallography and computed tomography. The apparent porosity size distribution will be compared, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two analysis routes will be discussed.