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Additive manufacturing (AM) technology, also known as 3D printing, has transitioned from concepts and prototypes to part-for-part substitution and the creation of unique AM-specific part geometries. These applications are increasingly present in demanding, mission-critical fields such as medicine and aerospace, which require materials with certain thermal, stiffness, corrosion, and static loading properties. To advance in these arenas, metallic, ceramic, and polymer composite AM parts need to be free from discontinuities. The manufacturing processes have to be stable, robust, and repeatable. And the nondestructive testing (NDT) technology and inspection methods will need to be sufficiently capable and reliable to ensure that discontinuities will be detected to prevent the components from being accepted for use. As the second installment of a six-part series of SAE EDGE™ Research Reports on AM, this one discusses the need, challenges, technologies, and opportunities for NDT in AM.

An oft-cited benefit of additive manufacturing (AM), or “3D-printing,” technology is the ability to produce parts at the point of use by downloading a digital file and making the part at a local printer. This has the potential to greatly compress supply chains, lead times, inventories, and design iterations for custom parts. As a result of this, both manufacturing and logistics companies are investigating and investing in AM capacity for production at the point of use. However, it can be imagined that the feasibility and benefits are a function of size, materials, build time, manufacturing complexity, cost, and competing technologies. Because of this, there are instances where the viability of point-of-use manufacturing ranges from the perfect solution to the worst possible choice.

Laser and electron-beam powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) technology has transitioned from prototypes and tooling to production components in demanding fields such as medicine and aerospace. Some of these components have geometries that can only be made using AM. Initial applications either take advantage of the relatively high surface roughness of metal PBF parts, or they are in fatigue, corrosion, or flow environments where surface roughness does not impose performance penalties. To move to the next levels of performance, the surfaces of laser and electron-beam PBF components will need to be smoother than the current as-printed surfaces. This will also have to be achieve on increasingly more complex geometries without significantly increasing the cost of the final component.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as “3D printing,” has transitioned from concepts and prototypes to part-for-part substitution—and now to the creation of part geometries that can only be made using AM. As a wide range of mobility OEMs begin to introduce AM parts into their products, the question between insourcing and outsourcing the manufacturing of AM parts has surfaced. Just like parts made using other technologies, AM parts can require significant post-processing operations. Therefore, as AM supply chains begin to develop, the sourcing of AM part building and their post-processing becomes an unsettled and important issue. Unsettled Aspects of Insourcing and Outsourcing Additive Manufacturing discusses the approaches and trade-offs of the different sourcing options for production hardware for multiple scenarios, including both metallic and polymer technologies and components. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as “3D printing,” now provides the ability to have an almost fully digital chain from part design through manufacture and service. This “digital thread” can bring great benefits in improving designs, processes, materials, operations, and the ability to predict failure in a way that maximizes safety and minimizes cost and downtime. Unsettled Aspects of the Digital Thread in Additive Manufacturing discusses what the interplay between AM and a digital thread in the mobility industry would look like, the potential benefits and costs, the hurdles that need to be overcome for the combination to be useful, and how an organization can answer these questions to scope and benefit from the combination. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.

In the early days, there were significant limitations to the build size of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) machines. However, machine builders have addressed that drawback by introducing larger L-PBF machines with expansive build volumes. As these machines grow, their size capability approaches that of directed energy deposition (DED) machines. Concurrently, DED machines have gained additional axes of motion which enable increasingly complex part geometries—resulting in near-overlap in capabilities at the large end of the L-PBF build size. Additionally, competing technologies, such as binder jet AM and metal material extrusion, have also increased in capability, albeit with different starting points. As a result, the lines of demarcation between different processes are becoming blurred.

As metal additive manufacturing (MAM), also known as "metal 3D printing,” moves from prototype to low-rate and high-rate production for increasingly critical applications for more industries, many product teams are tasked with determining design properties for the first time in many years. Not only is it necessary to determine basic material properties, but it is also necessary to accommodate new geometries and design concepts as well. While some of the methods and approaches are common to other product forms, others are unique to MAM. Determining Design Properties for Metal Additive Manufacturing in the Mobility Industry covers the challenges in determining design properties and provides a comparison with existing technologies, along with an example and recommendations for future work. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio..

Depending on the industry and application, views on additive manufacturing (AM), or “3D printing,” range from something that will transform an industry to it being another overhyped technology that will only find niche applications. Most views fall somewhere in between, with the most common one being that it depends on the application and technology. Because of the ability to directly produce parts from a digital file, views often include dependence on when and where the part is needed. This introduces the crux of the matter, which is how to determine when the use of AM is feasible and desirable, which is made all the more complicated by the fact that not only is AM technology in general changing quickly, but also the merits of the each AM technology relative to the others are also changing. Finally, non-AM technologies are continually improving and are increasingly adding AM-like capability.

Now that metal additive manufacturing (MAM), also known as “metal 3D printing,” has seen its first successful implementations across the mobility industry, the question is whether it will continue to grow beyond these initial applications or remain a niche manufacturing process. Moving to broader applications will require overcoming several barriers, namely cost and rate, size, and criticality limitations. Recent progress in MAM indicates that these barriers are beginning to come down, pointing to continued growth in applications for MAM through the end of the decade and beyond. Metal Additive Manufacturing in the Mobility Industry: Looking into 2033 discusses the obstacles to future MAM growth, how they can be conquered, and what its role in the mobility industry will look like in 2033. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.