A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DIGITIZATION OF GEOMETRIC OBJECTS FABRICATED VIA ADDITIVE FDM TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REVERSE GEOMETRIC MODELLING APPLICATIONS

Additive manufacturing is already a commonly used manufacturing method encountered in industry. With the increasing demands for precision manufacturing, the need for reverse engineering also needs to be addressed. The aim of this study is to compare the results of digitizing primitive geometric objects using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and industrial computed tomography (CT) in terms of reverse geometric modeling. The principles of reverse geometric modelling are applied to samples produced by additive Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) in order to create a geometrically accurate 3D CAD model from the acquired data. In the experiment, curves obtained from primitive geometric objects such as a cylinder were compared. 5 curves were obtained from each object. These curves were fitted to a nominal curve and the resulting curve dimension was compared with respect to the data acquisition method used. The results of the study showed comparable accuracy of the two data acquisition methods. The investigated diameters were in tolerance of 40 +- 0.15 mm and thus correlated with the STN EN 2768 - 1 standard for nontoleranced surfaces. The individual data can be used to speed up the creation of 3D CAD models improving the accuracy and quality of these models.