Characterisation of confocal microscopy for surface topography measurement - ENG 1360

Imaging confocal microscopy (ICM) is increasingly being applied for surface texture measurement of advanced manufactured components, including those for additive manufacturing. For ICM to be applied in quality control scenarios, its capabilities need to be quantified through calibration. ISO committee 213 is developing specification standards for calibration, but these do not include effects that are due by structures that cause scattering outside the aperture acceptance angle, e.g. high slope structures on additive surfaces. The student will investigate the application of a recently-developed rigorous theory to calibration of ICM which can be applied with any surface structure. This will involve the development of a “virtual ICM” which can then be verified experimentally with a number of surfaces and surface features. An uncertainty model for ICM will be developed along with methods to correct for systematic errors, therefore, improving the response of ICM.

We seek an excellent student to join the world-leading teams at University of Nottingham, the Manufacturing Technology Centre and a leading developer of commercial ICMs.

The project will be supervised by Professor Richard Leach, from the Manufacturing Metrology Team, see www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/manufacturing-metrology.