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Lloyd's Register Metal AM
LR and TWI are aiming to assist manufacturers, and end users of equipment and components, in the safe adoption of additive manufacturing.
Engineering, technical and business services company, Lloyd’s Register (LR) has updated its 2017 framework for additively manufactured metal parts, produced in conjunction with research organisation, TWI.
Initially released last year, the revised framework is now entitled ‘Guidance Notes for the Certification of Metallic Parts made by Additive Manufacturing.’ The framework has been updated to draw on the experience both companies have gained from client assurance and certification, joint industry projects and their involvement in standards in AM development.
LR and TWI are aiming to assist manufacturers, and end users of equipment and components, in the safe adoption of additive manufacturing. Also hoping to achieve quality driven results, the updated insurance of these guidance notes reflects a more user-friendly approach to manufacturing certification, breaking down the approach into five key areas. These key areas are made up of design, materials, manufacturing, post-processing, and inspection and testing. The scope of technologies and processes has also been extended to reflect industry trends. For example, it now includes wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), a process commonly used for larger scale parts and production in shorter amounts of time. Laser powder bed fusion and laser metal deposition processes are also addressed with extended information and detail based on real-world expertise.
“The disruptive nature of AM combined with the cross-industry potential has really lent itself to a collaborative approach to developing a more standard way to qualify and certify all aspects of parts made by AM,” said Claire Ruggiero, Innovation Director at LR. “Along with TWI, we have created and participated in joint industry projects across the globe to help apply our expertise directly to clients and consortiums, resulting in a safer and more certifiable approach. The 2017 guidance notes continue this approach by sharing our expertise.”
LR and TWI’s certification framework for AM metallic components provides a step-by-step approach to provide the necessary level of consistency, qualification and confidence to enable manufactures an approach they can use alongside LR’s inspection and certification services.
“In the past, manufacturers haven’t always known where or how to begin their journey with AM,” said Dr Chris Dungey, Joining Technologies Group Manager at TWI. “LR and TWI’s collaborative approach is an end-to-end model that can help clients from the earliest starting line: questioning the use of AM and how to exploit its benefits, to the eventual finish of certifying and selling AM parts into the open market. These guidance notes support that model.”
