Metal AM Test Artifact for Faster Qualification Sectioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current additive manufacturing certification processes for metal components via powder bed fusion are costly and time-consuming due to the need for extensive testing of witness coupons and sacrificial components, with limited understanding of process sensitivity and variability, leading to proprietary data and gaps in fundamental knowledge across industries and governments.
Innovation Solution
A compact, additively manufactured test artifact with specific geometries and fiducials is designed for sectioning, allowing for mechanical and chemical testing, which addresses multiple standards gaps and research needs by enabling standardized inspection and data collection on features such as microstructure, surface roughness, and residual stress, facilitating zone-specific anomaly distributions and optimizing scanning strategies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If extensive testing of witness coupons and sacrificial components is performed, then certification reliability is improved, but time consumption and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple testing functions into a single integrated artifact that contains both geometric features for dimensional accuracy assessment and mechanical features for mechanical property testing. This merging eliminates the need for separate witness coupons and sacrificial components, reducing time consumption while maintaining certification reliability through comprehensive testing in one artifact.
Solution Approach 2:
The test artifact is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a geometric accuracy reference with known dimensions and as a mechanical test specimen with embedded features for tensile, fatigue, and fracture testing. This universal artifact replaces multiple specialized test pieces, significantly reducing the time and resources required for certification while maintaining comprehensive testing coverage.
2Measurement precision
If multiple witness coupons and sacrificial components are produced, then measurement precision is improved, but material consumption and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates geometric reference features and mechanical test features into a single artifact, eliminating the need to produce multiple separate witness coupons and sacrificial components. This consolidation maintains measurement precision through embedded geometric features while dramatically reducing material consumption by testing multiple properties in one artifact.
3Manufacturing precision
If proprietary testing criteria are used by suppliers, then manufacturing precision for specific parts is improved, but industry-wide standardization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides a universal test artifact with standardized geometric features and mechanical test features that can be applied across different additive manufacturing processes and materials. This standardized artifact enables industry-wide consistency in qualification testing while allowing suppliers to establish part-specific criteria based on the same fundamental test results, improving both standardization and part-specific precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A test artifact for additive manufacturing is provided. The artifact comprises an additively manufactured singular continuous body between 100 cc and 6 cc in bounding box volume and between 50 cc and 3 cc in solid body. The body comprises at least three fiducials positioned for identification of locations in cross-section after sectioning of the artifact and at least three geometries that are unique from each other when exposed in cross section.