A Metal Powder Bed Fusion Process in Industry: Qualification Considerations

An additive manufacturing process should produce repeatable results as far as the properties of the material and the geometric dimensions that have to be adopted by a company as a production method are concerned. This represents a challenge for such high-volume sectors as the automotive industry, where quality and reliability are extremely important. One way of addressing this challenge is to qualify the process. A common framework has here been identified starting from the analysis of the factors that influence the stability of the result in the main phases of metal powder bed fusion (PBF) processes. A qualification procedure (QP), which offers possible solutions to help reduce risk factors, has been proposed. This procedure is independent of the industrial sectors, of which type of materials and metal PBF processes, and of the manufacturer of the used PBF system.