ANSI and America Makes open a new portal

There’s a new way to obtain current information about additive manufacturing standards.

The America Makes & ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC) announced the availability of an online portal through which members and the public would be able to easily access current documentation.

The portal provides a way for the community to observe and track progress in the AMSC regarding the development of additive manufacturing standards, which are still a work in progress. The portal shows the AMSC standards development roadmap, where visitors can see the next steps being undertaken.

The gaps are portrayed according to AMSC’s major categories, including:

• Design

• Precursor materials

• Process control

• Post-processing

• Finished material properties

• Qualification & certification

• Nondestructive evaluation

• Maintenance and repair

It’s possible to visit these sections and immediately see the changes to understood gaps — by date — that have been made to the documents. You can also download the entire AMSC roadmap.

Additive Manufacturing Standards Benefits

AMSC says they have so far obtained contributions from no fewer than 300 individuals from 175 organizations, making the work have a very broad perspective on all aspects of additive manufacturing.

It’s critical for such standards to be developed and eventually adhered to by participants in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing community. Without standards it becomes far more difficult to guarantee the quality of a produced part, and that’s what manufacturing is all about: quality and consistency.

Today it’s likely that many parts produced using additive manufacturing processes may undergo additional testing steps by users simply due to the lack of a complete set of standards.

Changing Additive Manufacturing Standards

Of course, standards are never truly complete; this industry is one that is of all manufacturing technologies, a moving target with reasonably high velocity. It’s quite likely within a year or two some new technological development or 3D printing process will necessitate the development of additional standards.

But that’s what the AMSC organization is for: a continual development of standards according to their defined roadmap.

The standards not only help ensure end products area of good quality, but also will significantly help those organizations new to additive manufacturing. There is a lot to know, as best practices are sometimes the opposite of what is done in traditional manufacturing, where most organizations come from. Sometimes it’s hard to make the jump.

Additive Manufacturing Standards Availability

AMSC also sells a series of standards documents to interested parties on their web store. Pricing for the documents is relatively inexpensive, and they are provided in downloadable PDF form. They documents are on various additive manufacturing topics, so you can select which are most appropriate for your situation. Discounts are available for AMSC members.

Via AMSC