Comparison of Selected Methods and Strategies for Measuring the Surface Topography of Models Manufactured by Additive SLS Technology

The following article presents the results of a study of the measurement of the surface topography of components manufactured by the additive Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) method, using polyamide powder PA 2200. The measurement of surface topography was carried out using three different optical measurement methods. The optical microscopy methods used in the study were compared: interferometric, confocal and focus variation. A Leica DCM8 microscope was used to carry out optical measurements. The conducted tests showed significant differences in the number of non-measured points in terms of selecting the appropriate measurement system for the elements produced by the SLS method, which may affect the reliability of the tests.