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Hello to all our viewers, welcome to this week’s edition of News-In-Review!
Every week we are swarmed with varied news from the AM world which makes it hard to pinpoint a common theme or thread to talk about. Nevertheless, the world of 3D printing made giant leaps this week with regards to getting its righteous spot in the pantheon of certified industrial technologies. Lloyd’s Register has released an updated framework for metal AM parts certification to encourage the safe adoption of this technology in every industry. Siemens have provided an AM replacement part for a Slovenian nuclear power plant, passing the required quality certifications. And if further use cases were needed to prove the point, SSL has been using around 50-60 AM components in its satellites and we all know how stringent aerospace requirements can be.
Let’s dive in.
Lloyd’s Register, TWI release updated framework for 3D printed metal certification
Headquartered in London, Lloyd’s Register (LR) has released an updated version of its metal additive manufacturing framework. Jointly published by research and technology organization TWI, the framework hopes to encourage “safe adoption” of metal 3D printing by promoting certification of parts. According to Lloyd’s Register, the new certification framework for AM metallic components “Provides a step-by-step approach to provide the necessary level of consistency, qualification and confidence to enable manufacturers an approach they can use alongside LR’s inspection and certification services”.
Read the full article here.
Siemens 3D prints part for nuclear power plant
The largest manufacturing and electronics company in Europe, Siemens announces it has 3D printed a replacement part for a nuclear power plant in Slovenia. The part was produced for the Krško nuclear power plant in Vrbina, Slovenia. According to Siemens, the power plant provides power for one-quarter of Slovenia and 15% of neighboring Croatia. This is a significant accomplishment not just for Siemens but for the 3D printing industry as a whole because implementing this part required undergoing stringent certification and qualification processes spanning several months. The news further validates 3D printing as an advanced manufacturing technique.
Read more here.
3D printing saving satellite builders time and money
Satellite manufacturers are turning increasingly to additive manufacturing to reduce the cost and time required to design and build spacecraft. SSL announced March 7 that its most complex additively manufactured part, an antenna tower with 37 printed titanium nodes and more than 80 graphite struts, is performing as intended. […] “We have satellites ready for launch that have 50 to 60 printed parts on them,” Mark Spiwak, Boeing Satellite Systems International president, said March 7 during a press briefing at the Satellite 2017 conference. “We are actively working with our suppliers on complex brackets and fittings that used to be machined parts. There is tremendous progress being made.”
Read the full article at Space News.
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