Unsettled Topics on Nondestructive Testing of Additively Manufactured
Parts in the Mobility Industry EPR2020017
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.
NOTE: SAE EDGE™ Research Reports are intended to identify and illuminate key
issues in emerging, but still unsettled, technologies of interest to the
mobility industry. The goal of SAE EDGE™ Research Reports is to stimulate
discussion and work in the hope of promoting and speeding resolution of
identified issues. SAE EDGE™ Research Reports are not intended to resolve the
challenges they identify or close any topic to further scrutiny.
