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Preliminary color characterization of HP Multi Jet Fusion additive manufacturing with different orientations and surface finish

Faizan Badar (Faculty of Engineering Architecture and Information Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Australia and Herston Biofabrication Institute, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Herston, Australia)
Lionel T. Dean (Faculty of Art Design and Humanities, School of Design, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK)
Jennifer Loy (Department of Business Strategy and Innovation, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia)
Michael Redmond (Herston Biofabrication Institute, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Herston, Australia; Kenneth G Jamieson Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Herston, Australia and Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia)
Luigi-Jules Vandi (Faculty of Engineering Architecture and Information Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Australia)
James I. Novak (Herston Biofabrication Institute, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Herston, Australia and Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Australia)

Rapid Prototyping Journal

ISSN: 1355-2546

Article publication date: 5 September 2022

Issue publication date: 2 March 2023

138

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the color accuracy of HP Jet Fusion 580 3D printing, comparing 3D-printed outcomes against original digital input colors.

Design/methodology/approach

A custom cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) and red, green, blue (RGB) color chart was applied to the top, bottom and side surfaces of a 3D model. Four of each model were 3D-printed on a HP Jet Fusion 580, and half the samples were finished with a cyanoacrylate gloss surface finish, while half were left in raw form. A spectrophotometer was used to document CIELAB (L*a*b*) data, and comparisons made to the original input colors, including calculation of ΔE.

Findings

The CMYK samples were significantly more accurate than RGB samples, and grayscale samples in both color spaces were the most accurate of all. Typically, CMYK swatches were darker than the input values, and gloss samples were consistently darker than raw samples. The chromaticity (a*b*) range was found to be significantly smaller than what can be achieved digitally, with highly saturated colors unable to be produced by the printer.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to characterize the full color spectrum possible with the HP Jet Fusion 580, recommending that designers use the CMYK color space when applying colors and textures to 3D models. A quick-reference color chart has been provided; however, it is recommended that future research focus on developing a color management profile to better map digital colors to the capabilities of the printer.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

In the interest of transparency, data sharing, and reproducibility, the author(s) of this article have made the data underlying their research openly available. It can be accessed by following the link here: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19670625.v1.

Citation

Badar, F., Dean, L.T., Loy, J., Redmond, M., Vandi, L.-J. and Novak, J.I. (2023), "Preliminary color characterization of HP Multi Jet Fusion additive manufacturing with different orientations and surface finish", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 582-593. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-04-2022-0136

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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