Design for Inspectability: A Framework to Increase Inspectability of Additive Manufacturing Parts for Pulse-Echo Ultrasonic Inspection Methods

Additive manufacturing (AM) is used to produce load-bearing, safety-critical components in industries like aerospace, automotive, and medical devices. Designers can create AM components with complex internal features, organic topologies, and lattice structures to reduce part mass or part count. However, such complex features can make designs difficult or impossible to inspect using mature nondestructive testing (NDT) methods. Professional organizations suggest designers keep quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) in mind early in the design process. The Design for Inspectability (DfI) framework is suggested as a way of meeting the need for early-stage QA/QC considerations. This work presents a case study, where a group of designers considered one type of NDT, known as Pulse-Echo Ultrasonic (PEU) testing. Using heuristics derived from relevant literature, designers were able to create designs with increased inspectability. This improved inspectability came at the cost of other design objectives, however, such as strength and mass. This implies that certain design objectives may be inversely related to increased inspectability, raising significant concerns for the field. This work marks the first step toward mapping out the trade-offs between inspection and performance objectives.

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Work Title Design for Inspectability: A Framework to Increase Inspectability of Additive Manufacturing Parts for Pulse-Echo Ultrasonic Inspection Methods
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Tobias Mahan
  2. Lauren Katch
  3. Andrea P. Arguelles
  4. Jessica Menold
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of Mechanical Design
Publication Date July 1, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4053812
Deposited July 17, 2023

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  • Created
  • Added Mahan_Katch_Arguelles_Menold_DesignForInspectability.pdf
  • Added Creator Tobias Mahan
  • Added Creator Lauren Katch
  • Added Creator Andrea P. Arguelles
  • Added Creator Jessica Menold
  • Published
  • Updated Publisher Show Changes
    Publisher
    • Journal of Mechanical Design - Transactions of the ASME
    • Journal of Mechanical Design
  • Updated