Robust and practical measurement of volume transport parameters in solid photo-polymer materials for 3D printing

Volumetric light transport is a pervasive physical phenomenon, and therefore its accurate simulation is important for a broad array of disciplines. While suitable mathematical models for computing the transport are now available, obtaining the necessary material parameters needed to drive such simulations is a challenging task: direct measurements of these parameters from material samples are seldom possible. Building on the inverse scattering paradigm, we present a novel measurement approach which indirectly infers the transport parameters from extrinsic observations of multiple-scattered radiance. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in replacing structured illumination with a structured reflector bonded to the sample, and a robust fitting procedure that largely compensates for potential systematic errors in the calibration of the setup. We show the feasibility of our approach by validating simulations of complex 3D compositions of the measured materials against physical prints, using photo-polymer resins. As presented in this paper, our technique yields colorspace data suitable for accurate appearance reproduction in the area of 3D printing. Beyond that, and without fundamental changes to the basic measurement methodology, it could equally well be used to obtain spectral measurements that are useful for other application areas. Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Automated summary

This paper presents a novel measurement approach for indirectly inferring transport parameters of volumetric light from extrinsic observations, enabling accurate simulations of complex materials and precise reproduction of appearance in 3D printing. The method can potentially be used for obtaining spectral measurements for other application areas as well, without fundamental changes to the basic measurement methodology.