Chicago-based 3D printing quality assurance software developer Phase3D has introduced Fringe Qualification, a new tool for Fringe, its metal 3D printing in-situ inspection platform.
The digital tool reportedly allows manufacturers to certify and control parts on demand, as they are being 3D printed. Fringe Qualification offers automated, layer-by-layer inspection simultaneously across multiple 3D printers to ensure quality and certify parts during high-volume production.
According to Phase3D, this brings ‘unprecedented efficiency and reliability’ to demanding industries and applications, reducing post-processing costs and accelerating delivery timelines.
“With Fringe Qualification, we’re transforming how manufacturers approach quality control in additive manufacturing,” commented Niall O’Dowd, Phase3D’s Founder and CEO. “Our customers can now certify builds layer-by-layer, reducing post-processing costs and enabling faster delivery of critical parts.”
Phase3D will showcase Fringe Qualification during Formnext 2024 at Booth E58 in Hall 11.0.
Enhancing 3D printing inspection with Fringe Qualification
In an interview with 3D Printing Industry, O’Dowd outlined how Phase3D’s fringe software facilitates live monitoring of powder bed fusion 3D printing. He explained that the platform uses structured light to measure a height map of each material layer before and after melting. This creates 3D visualizations of height-based anomalies, allowing users to make “informed decisions about build cancellation.”
A range of factors, such as recoater streaks, short feeds, or the uneven distribution of metal powder can cause powder bed fusion 3D printing anomalies. These can result in a lack of powder fusion, keyhole porosity, and other issues with the final part.
Employing Fringe’s structured light projection technology, Fring Qualification provides quantifiable metrics that enable live decision-making during the additive manufacturing process. According to Phase3D, this sets it apart from predictive artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning processes, providing repeatable data to meet stringent industry standards.
Specifically, Fring Qualification enables live, in-situ inspection across multiple 3D printers. Quality control for an entire fleet of production systems can be monitored and managed from a centralized dashboard, streamlining the quality control process. Additionally, quality control checks can be automated using historical build data. These data-driven parameters reportedly optimize precision.
If a defect is detected, Fringe Qualification instantly issues out-of-specification alerts, allowing the user to intervene and prevent defects in the final parts. Detailed build reports are also generated by Phase3D’s new tool, providing comprehensive quality-control documentation tailored to industry needs.
“Fringe Qualification represents the next evolution in additive manufacturing quality control,” added Ben Ferrar, COO & Chair of the Board at Phase3D. “By enabling real-time production control across multiple machines, we’re empowering manufacturers to achieve consistent quality, every time.”
The launch of Fringe Qualification follows the news in June that Phase3D is working with the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA to develop Fringe Research. The company claims that this technology is the first to measure anomalies during metal powder bed fusion 3D printing and correlate these to defects in the final part, such as porosity.
Earlier this year, Phase3D announced the commercialization of its True Layer Thickness toolkit at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) 2024 conference. This additive manufacturing monitoring and inspection tool measures, in microns, the quantity of metal powder distributed across a 3D printer’s build platform. The toolkit helps users ensure an even material distribution of each layer during powder bed fusion 3D printing.
3D printing quality assurance
3D printing in-situ quality assurance is vital for demanding industrial applications, like aerospace and space, which have strict quality requirements. As such, many additive manufacturing firms besides Phase3D offer proprietary defect-detection capabilities.
3D printing software and services company Materialise has developed its AI-powered Process Control software for metal 3D printing. This allows users to analyze data collected during the 3D printing process. Defective parts can be located before the post-processing and quality inspection stages, which adds 30% to 70% to production costs.
Similarly, Californian metal 3D printer manufacturer Velo3D offers its Assure Quality Assurance and Control System. Compatible with the firm’s laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) Sapphire 3D printers, the tool monitors the metal 3D printing process.
Defects in the build are detected as they occur, with quality control and build report summaries automatically generated for each 3D print job. It also uses live, multi-sensor, physics-based detection algorithms to trace part quality during production, streamlining the 3D printed-part validation process.
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Featured image shows Phase3D’s Fringe structured light in-situ monitoring technology. Photo via Phase3D.
