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Materials Science in Additive Manufacturing Measuring the porosity of AM components

and apparent density. The apparent density reflects the Conflicts of interest
real conditions in the component more realistically and is
more suitable for analyzing the component’s mechanical Dimensionics GmbH is the manufacturer of the automatic
properties. Thanks to the increasing automation of the density measurement system “Density L” and a project
Archimedes method, the apparent part densities can also partner in a research project with the University of
Rostock. Dimensionics GmbH had no role in study design,
be determined in the most repeatable and reproducible
way possible. Therefore, gas pycnometry and the data analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the
automated Archimedes method are the two high-precision manuscript. The authors listed are not associated with the
density measurement methods, which differ from each Dimensionics GmbH.
other in economic aspects. The Archimedes method is Authors’ contributions
more favorable for industrial applications because it is
easier to automate. Automated handling of test specimens Conceptualization: Erik Westphal
can also achieve a significant increase in accuracy and Data curation: Erik Westphal
reproducibility as well as cost-effectiveness compared to Formal analysis: Erik Westphal
manual measurements according to Archimedes method. Funding acquisition: Erik Westphal, Hermann Seitz
The method is therefore also suitable for integration into Investigation: Erik Westphal, Hermann Seitz
industrial process chains and for fast and cost-effective Methodology: Erik Westphal
preliminary testing of green parts in two-stage AM Resources: Erik Westphal
processes to obtain initial information on part density and Software: Erik Westphal
porosity quickly and relatively accurately. This information Supervision: Hermann Seitz
can then be used to decide whether the green parts can be Validation: Erik Westphal
further processed or directly rejected. This contributes to Visualization: Erik Westphal
saving resources and increasing process quality. Writing – original draft: Erik Westphal
Writing – review & editing: Hermann Seitz
In future work, the results obtained in this study should
be supplemented by analyzing other AM process categories. Ethics approval and consent to participate
Furthermore, CT analysis should be included in the
investigations as an additional measurement method that is Not applicable.
very relevant in the AM sector. It is also recommended that
the aspect of preliminary testing of green parts be pursued Consent for publication
further. For example, reference values for green parts could Not applicable.
be determined using gas pycnometry and validated using
automated Archimedean density measurements and CT Availability of data
analyses. The automated Archimedes method should be Data are available from the corresponding author on
successively optimized so that it enables high accuracy and reasonable request.
offers stable, fast, and economical measurement, especially
for green parts. This ultimately increases process quality
and can contribute to more sustainable AM. References
1. Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN EN ISO/ASTM
Acknowledgments 52900:2022-03, DIN Media GmbH, Berlin, 2022.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Dimensionics doi: 10.31030/3290011
GmbH for their technical support and for performing 2. Westphal E. Digital Quality Assurance System for Additive
the automated density measurements according to the Manufacturing Based on Machine Learning Methods and
Archimedes principle. Blockchain Technology. Dissertation, University of Rostock,
2023.
Funding
doi: 10.18453/ROSDOK_ID00004605
This research was funded by the European Union, which 3. Wong KV, Hernandez A. A review of additive manufacturing.
was made available through the European Regional ISRN Mech Eng. 2012;2012:1-10.
Development Fund (ERDF) and the Ministry for
Economics, Employment and Health of Mecklenburg- doi: 10.5402/2012/208760
Vorpommern (grant numbers TBI-V-1-396-VBW-136 4. Thompson Y, Gonzalez-Gutierrez J, Kukla C, Felfer P. Fused
and TBI-1-026-W-009). filament fabrication, debinding and sintering as a low cost

Volume 4 Issue 2 (2025) 23 doi: 10.36922/MSAM025090010