A proposed American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) additive manufacturing standard will offer valuable guidelines for industrial 3D printing. Currently an ASTM international committee is working on these standards to help evaluate the mechanical properties of additive manufacturing materials.These guidelines will use currently available standards for measuring mechanical properties including fatigue crack growth and fracture toughness specifically applied to industrial 3D printing.
Mohsen Seifi, a doctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University, says that many mechanical testing standards are applicable to parts currently produced using additive manufacturing. But, these standards are not specifically tailored to the emerging additive manufacturing industry. The proposed set of standards will be conceived specifically for AM users.
In the future, manufacturers and vendors will be able to partially qualify parts and components to meet specific load bearing capabilities, fracture and fatigue properties and damage tolerance using the ASTM standards. They will also be able to use the material standards to certify and qualify their product. No doubt testing labs and regulatory bodies will appreciate and benefit from the new standards as well.
The WK49229, Guide for Anisotropy Effects in Mechanical Properties of AM Parts Committee will also be working on other kinds of standards that will fully qualify AM parts. They invite anyone interested to join their work. Become a member and get involved here.
