System and method for authenticating an additively manufactured component
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsScott Alan Gold, Thomas Graham Spears, David Henry Abbott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for authenticating an additively manufactured component is provided. The method includes locating an identifying region of the component that includes localized density variations that define a component identifier. The method further includes interrogating the identifying region of the component using a scanning device such as an x-ray computed tomography device to obtain the component identifier. The method further includes obtaining a reference identifier from a database, comparing the component identifier to the reference identifier, and determining that the component is authentic if the component identifier matches the reference identifier.
Claims18
A method of authenticating an additively manufactured component, the method comprising:
- locating an identifying region of the component, the identifying region comprising localized density variations that define a component identifier of the component, wherein locating the identifying region of the component comprises locating a datum feature on the component, the datum feature being positioned at a predetermined location relative to the identifying region, and determining the location of the identifying region based on the location of the datum feature;
- obtaining data indicative of the component identifier of the component by interrogating the identifying region of the component using a scanning device;
- and
- determining that the component is authentic based on the data acquired by the scanning device.
A system for authenticating an additively manufactured component, the system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations, the operations comprising:
- obtaining data indicative of an identifying region of the component, the identifying region containing one or more localized density variations that define a component identifier, wherein obtaining data indicative of the identifying region of the component comprises locating one or more datum features on the component, the one or more datum features being positioned at a predetermined location relative to the identifying region, and determining the location of the identifying region based on the location of the one or more datum features;
- determining the component identifier by interrogating the identifying region of the component using a scanning device;
- obtaining a reference identifier from a database;
- and
- determining that the component is authentic if the component identifier matches the reference identifier.
A method of authenticating a component, the method comprising:
- locating one or more datum features on the component, the one or more datum features being positioned at a predetermined location relative to an identifying region;
- determining the location of the identifying region based on the location of the one or more datum features;
- interrogating the identifying region of the component using x-ray computed tomography to generate a map of localized density variations that are located within the identifying region, the map of localized density variations defining a component identifier;
- obtaining a reference identifier from a database;
- and
- determining that the component is authentic if the component identifier matches the reference identifier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.