Optical tomography in additive manufacturing: a review, processes, open problems, and new opportunities

Additive manufacturing is the process of producing three-dimensional objects in a layer-by-layer technique. Due to its ability to produce complex parts directly without any additional machining, it has found a valuable place in the manufacturing sector of the industry with applications ranging from producing minutely detailed body implants to the nose of spacecrafts. Different types and processes of additive manufacturing will be discussed. Since many shapes and complexities can be produced, it is difficult to test these products for defects using conventional methods. To overcome this difficulty and to analyze the parts nondestructively, optical tomography is used. A detailed study of optical tomography is done. We will be surveying how this method helps identify the porosity and defects in additively manufactured parts nondestructively, making this method efficient and economical. This paper will discuss the advantages of using optical tomography to analyze different materials used in additive manufacturing.