NCAME boosts AM qualification capacity with state-of-the-art in-process monitoring system
Published: Jan 20, 2022 2:55 PM
By Jeremy Henderson
Auburn University's National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) will soon install state-of-the-art in-process quality assurance software on one of its three EOS M290 printers. The step is part of an academic and industrial collaboration between the center and Sigma Labs in support of several funded projects fostering the use of additively manufactured (AM) components in commercial air and space travel.
Created by Sigma Labs, PrintRite3D provides real-time detection and classification during the manufacturing process, enabling significant cost-savings and production efficiencies. NCAME will use the software to detect anomalies during fabrication and relate them to the variations in mechanical performance of 3D-printed parts.
Funded by several grants from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and ASTM International, the projects aim to address issues related to the variability in additive manufacturing machines and products, as well as generate an understanding on how microscopic anomalies in the 3D-printed metals affect overall fatigue and fracture properties.
“This is what I call the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of additive manufacturing,” said NCAME director Nima Shamsaei, Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering. “Such variations make the qualification and certification of AM materials and parts challenging. We intend to use PrintRite3D to detect anomalies during fabrication and relate them to the variations in mechanical performance of 3D-printed parts.”
The National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) was founded in 2017 through a collaboration between Auburn University and NASA, leveraged by a signed AU/NASA Space Act Agreement. The center is also a founding partner of the ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence. NCAME aims to guide multidisciplinary research and foster effective collaborations amongst industry, government, academia, non-profit organizations, and ASTM committees for ensuring a coordinated, global effort toward rapidly closing standards and workforce development gaps in additive manufacturing.
“We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Auburn University, and especially the opportunity to participate with the exciting partnership between NCAME, NASA and the FAA,” said Mark Ruport, President and CEO of Sigma Labs. “These great organizations are working hard to find methods to utilize 3D parts to make air travel safer. In close coordination with the NCAME, we are also supporting the efforts of the ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, with the objective of closing AM standards and workforce gaps.”
Media Contact: , jdh0123@auburn.edu, 334-844-3591
NCAME researchers monitor one of the center's three EOS M290 printers.
