Surface Texture Characterization of Metal Selective Laser Melted Part with Varying Surface Inclinations

Additive manufacturing offers the advantage of infinite freedom to design and fabricate complex parts at reduced lead-time. However, the surface quality of additively manufactured parts remains well behind the conventionally processed counterparts. This paper aims to systematically investigate the impact of varying surface inclination angles with respect to the build direction on the resultant surface textures. A bespoke metal truncheon artefact with inclination angles varying from 0° to 180° was built by selective laser melting. Focus variation microscopy was used to measure the topography of inclined surfaces with the tilt angle up to 132°. The measurement data was then analyzed to characterize the staircase effect and the particles adherent to the artefact surface. Areal surface texture parameters, including height parameters, spatial parameters, functional parameters, and feature parameters, were explored to quantify the general surface topography, the staircase case effect, and the particle features. The areal surface texture characterization and particle analysis reveal the resulted surface topographies are strongly correlated with the surface inclination angles.