October AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 2 2 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AT THE BAM: FOCUS ON SAFETY In Germany, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is addressing challenges in the implementation of additive manufacturing on the industrial landscape for safety-critical applications. K. Hilgenberg, W. Daum, C. Maierhofer, S. Altenburg, G. Bruno, T. Heckel, B. Skrotzki, U. Zerbst, A. Kranzmann, D. Bettge, K. Sommer, S. Seeger, M. Nitsche, J. Günster, and A. Evans Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und–prüfung (BAM), Berlin A dditive manufacturing (AM) en- ables customized production of complex components, which is achieved by layer-upon-layer deposi- tion of material. Directly related to the high degree of flexibility is significant potential for innovation with AM in var- ious areas of application from aero- space to automotive, and medical to civil engineering. However, with a few exceptions, additively manufactured components are currently not used in safety-critical areas. The main reason is the absence of criteria for their design, testing, and qualification. Existing rules and regulations cannot be easily trans- ferred due to the wide variety of pro- cess-related influencing variables, the geometrical degrees of freedom of the products, and the complex influence of the material. As a center of excellence for safe- ty in technology and chemistry, BAM, together with partners from indus- try and research, is working to fur- ther develop AM processes within this context focusing on materials. BAM combines expertise of various special- ist areas in a competence center for safety-critical components produced by AM, with the aim of making exper- tise available for users from research and industry all under one roof. BAM uses its broad knowledge of materi- als analysis, nondestructive testing (NDT) of materials, mechanical testing, and welding-based processing of ma- terials. BAM has facilities to additively manufacture test specimens and indus- try-related components to conduct re- search and participate in comparative and round-robin interlaboratory tests. Facilities include laser powder bed fu- sion (LPBF), laser metal deposition (LMD), and wire-arc additive manufac- turing (WAAM) of metallic materials. Re- search at BAM enables gaining in-depth knowledge and cross-functional capa- bilities ranging from characterization of starting material, through the AM pro- cess and in situ process monitoring, to the characterization of built structures and determination of mechanical prop- erties, all with the global aim to enable future use of additively manufactured components in safety-relevant appli- cations. Further, BAM is also involved in standardization efforts, which is helping to develop the potential of the technology and to transform AM into recognized and standardized processes for industrial manufacturing. This arti- cle provides an overview of BAM’s ac- tivities in additive manufacturing with Fig. 1 — Single image of the optical tomography; exposure of a complete layer of a demonstration test specimen in which the letters BAM remain as powder filled cavity.