Page 18 - 3D Metal Printing Fall 2018

3D FEATURE
Material Testing
Key to AM Quality Management
Tensile tests at SLM Solutions Group check whether new parameters on the company’s AM machines reach or exceed required mechanical characteristic values.
Testing machines and software pay off big time for manufacturers of aerospace parts, and makers of the machines used to print them.
As the scope of additive-manufacturing (AM) appli- cations increases, so does demand for quality eval- uations of key processes such as powder metallurgy. Physical testing enables quantitative analysis of supplier quality, adherence to procedures and process performance. Maintaining quality in powder-metal fabrication begins with the testing of the powders themselves. Metal powders are tested for correct chemistry, particle-size distribution
and mechanical properties. Components manufactured by powder-metal processes typically are tested for hardness, impact resistance, tensile strength and
density.
Consistency, reliability and proof of perform-
ance represent integral elements for industry sectors with a low tolerance for risk, such as aero- space and medical devices. That said, AM-part sup- pliers that develop procedures to assess end-to- end quality position themselves effectively for
growth.
Perfecting Powder Practices
Powder metallurgy provides the foundation upon which AM parts are built. Assessing the integrity of raw material improves yield and directly impacts perform- ance. Increasingly, AM-part producers perform their own
16 | 3D METAL PRINTING • FALL 2018
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