ABSTRACT
Machine performance evaluation is vital for objectively demonstrating that a machine can meet specifications, standards and quality management systems, and for allowing users to make informed decisions on how to best use their resources. Although additive manufacturing offers relatively new ways to produce parts, the methods used to evaluate the performance of these machines can build on expertise developed in other applications, especially in machine-tool metrology and laser-beam diagnostics. Users have a variety of options to evaluate the performance of their machines, from building and measuring a test artefact, to measuring individual machine components, to somewhere in between. Rigorous methods and good practice particular to additive manufacturing machines are being formalised, but much is already known, and users can use this knowledge to realise their own unique methods that meet their specific applications and requirements.
