- Email: [email protected]
European additive manufacturers discuss the future
special feature
European additive manufacturers discuss the future Metal Powder Report Consulting Editor Kenneth J A Brookes was invited to attend the first general meeting of the EPMA Additive Manufacturing Group. Ken reports from Frankfurt on what was discussed and agreed.
W
ith excellent communications by road, rail and air, Frankfurt Airport proved an excellent choice for the first general meeting of EAMG (the EPMA Additive Manufacturing Group) in 2014. More than fifty AM enthusiasts participated, contributing a host of ideas to the brainstorming sessions that occupied the second part of the programme. Relatively formal business and presentations took up the pre-lunch session, whilst the afternoon was devoted to the future of powder-based additive manufacturing of metallic objects, and the place of EPMA in cooperative research, education and promotion.
companies (all with the same rights), depending on their levels of PM sales: • Over €10 million (Annual Membership fee: €3395); • Between €3-10 million (Annual Membership fee: €2080); and • Less than €3 million (Annual Membership fee: €1350). Affiliate membership fee for subsidiaries of full members was €800 annually. Associate membership was available for non-European PM companies and all R&D organisations at an annual fee of €1695 irrespective of size, and individual memberships at €200.
The EPMA is governed by a General Assembly, meeting at least one a year, consisting of all corporate members. Elected by the Assembly are a Council of 17 industry representatives, and a President and Treasurer who serve for three years. The Council has seven distinct groups, each representing an industry sector, but at the moment the AM sector is conspicuously absent. I suspect that this will change over the next few years. The organisation has nine permanent staff, based in Shrewsbury, UK. Launched at Gothenburg in 2013 as the fifth EPMA sectoral group, the
EPMA and EAMG Technical Director Olivier Coube (Figure 1) opened the proceedings with an update on the EPMA in general and the EAMG in particular. He explained to newcomers that the European Powder Metallurgy Association, formed in Brussels in 1989, was a non-profit organisation with three key missions: • To promote and develop PM technology in Europe; • To represent the European PM industry within Europe and internationally; and • To develop the future of PM. The EPMA had three levels of full or affiliate membership for European PM
Figure 1: The EAMG Steering Committee: (left-right) Ralf Carlström of Höganäs AB, Sweden; Claus Aumund-Kopp, Fraunhofer IFAM, Germany; Adeline Riou, Erasteel, France; Olivier Coube, EPMA, France; and Keith Murray, Sandvik Osprey, UK.
0026-0657/14 ©2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
March/April 2014 MPR
33
sectoral groups. The EAMG represents the whole supply chain of Additive Manufacturing and was already benefitting from the full support of the EPMA in terms of networking, promotions, synergies and other factors. Next steps would be decided by an EAMG Working Group (of EPMA members only) which would meet regularly to support the Steering Group and discuss its strategy. But initial ideas were to be developed at a Workshop on future EAMG activities, followed by a number of simultaneous brainstorming (or ‘breakout’) sessions – that afternoon.
Education, promotion and events Figure 2: Adeline Riou, EAMG Vice-Chairman responsible for education and publicity.
Figure 3: The EAMG presentation on publicity centred on the MPR account of its launch meeting in Gothenburg.
European Additive Manufacturing Group has as Joint Chairmen Claus Aumund-Kopp (FhG IFAM) and Ralf Carlström (Höganäs AB), and as Joint Vice-Chairmen: Adeline Riou (Erasteel) and Keith Murray (Sandvik Osprey). Olivier Coube acts as EPMA Coordinator for the Group. At the Euro PM2014 Congress and Exhibition in Salzburg in September
34
MPR March/April 2014
there will be a Special Interest Seminar on Progress in Additive Manufacturing, in addition to regular AM sessions which, alphabetically at least, is first among the topics to be covered. Information is available at www.epma. com/pm2014. As an encouragement to EAMG, Olivier detailed the many activities of EPMA already conducted with other
Adeline Riou of Erasteel (Figure 2), Group Vice-Chairman with responsibility for education and publicity, made the next presentation. Luckily transport problems meant that I arrived late, sparing my blushes, since the featured promotion that I missed by seconds was my MPR account of the Group launch in Gothenburg (Figure 3), for which Adeline was largely responsible. One of the problems in promoting additive manufacturing in powder metallurgy is the sheer number of alternative names (Figure 4) for the technology. Some are trade names, some are comprehensive enough to include plastics and cutout cardboard layers, some so restrictive that they cover only a segment of the industry’s metallic sector. By far the most popular with the general public, however, is ‘3D printing’ (Figure 4), but this designation is at the moment primarily (but by no means exclusively) employed for fabrication with plastic filament. ‘Additive manufacturing’ could also fit this usage, but has been virtually appropriated to cover all kinds of metallic fabrication by the technique, and thus the various types involving powder metallurgy. EAMG activities so far include the dedicated Gothenburg seminar, an EAMG leaflet and an event calendar, all of which have received MPR coverage. The Calendar of Events is updated in Table 1. In fact I’ve had to do a little further updating, since the
metal-powder.net
Table 1: EAMG activities: calendar of events. Dates
Event
Country
City
Link
April 6-10
AMUG 2014
USA
Tucson
www.additivemanufacturingusersgroup.com/
May 14-15
Rapidtech
DE
Erfurt
www.rapidtech.de/en/homepage.html
May 18-22
AM PM conference
USA
Orlando
www.mpif.org
June 9-10
Rapid 2014
USA
Detroit
www.rapid.sme.org
June 23-25
AEPR
France
Paris
www.afpr.asso.fr
July 8-9
AM Conference
UK
Nottingham
www.am-conference.com
Sept 21 24
EuroPM
Austria
Salzburg
www.epma.com
Sept 25 26
RM Forum
Italy
Milan
www.eriseventi.com
Sept 30-Oct 2
TCT show
UK
Birmingham
www.tctshow.com
Nov 25-28
Euromold
Germany
Frankfurt
www.euromold.com
important AM Conference organised by Nottingham University on July 8-9 was incorrectly listed for the wrong date and the now superseded venue of Loughborough. The responsible academics have moved their research base from Loughborough University to Nottingham. Future EAMG activities include a 50-page illustrated educative brochure, of which the provisional content headings are listed below: 1 Introduction 2 Benefits of am Processes and Positioning vs Other PM Processes 3 Overview of aAMTechnology & Processes 3.1 Selective Laser Melting (SLM) 3.2 Electron Beam Melting (EBM) 3.3 3D-Printing (Binder Based Printing) 3.4 Screen Printing 3.5 Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) or Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) 3.6 Post Processing Operations
3.7 Quality and Testing 4 Powders, Materials & Material Properties 4.1 Powder manufacturing and characteristics 4.2 Stainless Steels 4.3 Tool Steels 4.4 Nickel-Based Alloys 4.5 Aluminum Alloys 4.6 Titanium Alloys 4.7 Others 5 Design Guidelines 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Cavities and Channels 5.3 Arches and Overhangs 5.4 Lattice Structures & Defined Porosity 5.5 Tolerances of AM parts 6 On Going Developments in AM 6.1 Standardization Activities 6.2 Emerging Materials 6.3 Larger and Faster Production system 6.4 Continuous AM
Figure 4: In any listing of terminology applied to additive manufacturing, ‘3D printing’ is a clear first in popularity.
metal-powder.net
7 8
Summary Case Studies
Prospective contributors are invited to contact claus.aumund-kopp@ifam. fraunhofer.de or [email protected].
'A Special Interest Seminar on Additive Manufacturing' Other suggestions for future activities included e-learning, video interviews, design awards for young students, mapping of European R&D laboratories with AM expertise and equipment, and greater EAMG or EPMA visibility in additive events.
Standardisation activities The next part of this fact-filled session was devoted to Standardisation in AM, led by EAMG Chairman Claus Aumund-Kopp of Fraunhofer IFAM, Germany. Here we were in the area of formal definition, rather than popular description. As Chairman of the British Standards committee on hardmetal cutting tools, the subject has particular resonance for myself. Though both the technologies (machining and AM) rely to a large extent on powder metallurgy, as production methods they are almost diametrically opposed. In the absence of a clear improvement, the ASTM definition of Additive
March/April 2014 MPR
35
Manufacturing, adopted in 2012, appears to have been recognised as the de facto international description. In full, it is a ‘process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies, such as traditional machining’. Aumund-Kopp explained that there a number of priority areas for standardisation: 1. Standards for integration - Physical interoperability; data and information exchange; product and service compatibility. 2. Standards for environmental sustainability - Resource and energy efficiency; clean production; closing the material loop. 3. Standards for quality and performance - Stronger focus on services; performance based standards; updated standards to test new materials. 4. De-risking standards - Health and safety; security; privacy; accessibility; environmental protection. 5. Cross-cutting issues - Standardisation for personalisation and mass customisation; responsive to change standards.
Standards organisations The world organisation is • ISO - International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva, Switzerland. Three major European standards organisations are • CEN - Committee for Standardisation, Brussels • CENELEC - European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation, Brussels • ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France. And the main national institutes in this technical area are • ASTM International - West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA • BSI - British Standards Institution, London • DIN - Deutsche Institut für Normung eV, Berlin, and • VDI - Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf. Where a European standard exists for a particular subject, the purely
36
MPR March/April 2014
national standard is superseded and replaced by the European one, with the addition of a national two- or three-letter prefix. Similarly, a standard could be developed simultaneously at both European (EN) and ISO level, giving a British standard, for example, triple-prefixed BS EN ISO, or a German standard DIN EN ISO. The SASAM Project aims to meet the standardisation needs and requirements of all principal stakeholders in Additive Manufacturing. A number of committee forums, with substantial European involvement have been created, including ASTM’s committee F42 and ISO Technical Committee TC261. According to www.sasam.eu, SASAM committees’ priority topics are: • qualification and certification methods; • design guidelines; • test methods for characteristics of raw materials; • material recycling guidelines; • standards protocols for round-robin testing standard test artefact; • requirements for purchased AM parts; and • harmonisation of existing ISO/ ASTM terminology standards and tests on finished parts. Coordinated by ESA, the European Space Agency, the acronymically designated ‘AMAZE’ project (Additive Manufacturing Aiming towards Zero waste and Efficient production of high-tech metal products) is a largescale EC-FP7 demo project. Its budget is €20 million, half each from the EC and partner contributions, and it has 28 partners from 10 countries: 12 manufacturers, 8 major end-users and 8 universities. It also has its own website: www.amaze-project.eu. For his presentation, AumundKopp detailed additive manufacturing standards that had already been devised, initially by ASTM and then jointly by ASTM and ISO. Their Partner Standards Developing Organization (PSOD) cooperative agreement covers the following: • Fast tracking the adoption process of an ASTM International standard as an ISO final draft international standard; • Formal adoption of a published ISO standard by ASTM International;
• Maintenance of published standards; and • Publication, copyright and commercial arrangements. As of June 2013, two standards to be approved through the PSDO agreement were: • ISO/ASTM 52921: 2013 E, Terminology for Additive Manufacturing • Coordinate Systems and Test Methodologies (originally published as ASTM F2921-11) • ISO/ASTM 52915: 2013 E, Specification for Additive Manufacturing • File Format (AMG) Version 1.1 (originally published as ASTM F2915-11) The many other AM standards existing or under development covered such matters as design file formats, titanium alloy, terminology and test methods (ASTM - USA); rapid prototyping technologies and beam melting of metallic parts (VDI – Germany); rapid prototyping test methods (BSI – UK) and terminology, process categories and feedstock, test methods and data processing (ISO TC261). For AM powder metallurgy, much of the work of ISO committee TC119 is relevant.
'Workshop on future activities of the EAMG' According to the presenter, a major task for all those working in AM is to harmonise existing standards, create new standards in cooperation rather than in competition, and to enhance their coverage in the growth areas of qualification and certification, terminology, design, materials recycling and specification. There is a substantial role here for Europe and a correspondingly important part to play for the EPMA and its EAMG component.
Brainstorming – EAMG breakout group discussions The second and most active (for the audience) part of the meeting was
metal-powder.net
Figure 5: In the breakout session, delegates hard at work with predictive brainstorming.
Figure 6: Heinrich Kestler of Plansee SE explains and interprets the brainstorming contributions of his breakout table.
Figure 7: In a corner of the conference room, delegates pay close attention to a rapporteur.
Figure 8: Henk van den Berg of Kennametal explains collective proposals to apply AM techniques to advanced materials.
devoted to a Workshop on future activities of the EAMG and the Group’s potential contribution to the Powder Metallurgy ‘Roadmap’. This was shorthand for the EPMA’s plans for the next 10 to 20 years for all PM processes, all materials, all industrial sectors and all applications. Much of it had already been written, but those sections applicable to additive manufacturing had been held back, awaiting input from this important Frankfurt meeting. Eight round-table groups, comprising all delegates (including myself), were preselected, each with a Chairman. The Workshop as a whole was introduced by joint EAMG Chairmen Carlström and Aumund-Kopp, who explained the methodology. The following categories were used for discussion purposes: A) Education, training, promotion and networking B) Standardisation C) Research projects and innovation D) Other activities (e.g. benchmarking …)
metal-powder.net
Each delegate was asked to write down ‘concrete expectations’ from the EAMG on a sticky note, annotating each with the corresponding category letter (Figure 5). The notes were stuck to a flip-chart and the delegates used coloured adhesive dots to vote for the most interesting proposals at their table, in both short- and long-term.
Common synthesis session Table chairmen had then to summarise their colleagues’ choices to the assembly, under each of the four categories (Figures 6 and 7). Some of the rapporteurs listed every suggestion in every category, to a total running into dozens. Others were stricter and reduced their submissions to a few items which earned their team’s general agreement. EPMA technical director Olivier Coube set himself the task of collating and recording the suggestions against
the membership of each table team, making a (comparatively) short list of those suggestions in each of the official categories, in order to prepare a more readable listing to aid future EAMG activities. As an example, the table team in which I participated seemed to have been chosen for their general interest in hardmetals, where AM could have great potential but little had so far been published. The eight of us came from five different countries (UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Luxembourg) and our hardworking rapporteur was Henk van den Berg of Kennametal Germany (Figure 8). It could be unfair to list all the proposals and suggestions in this short report, but it will be interesting in a year or two’s time to see how much of the Group’s AM targets, projects and achievements, especially those embodied in the EPMA Roadmap, were based on this single day of collective brainstorming.
March/April 2014 MPR
37
European additive manufacturers discuss the future Metal Powder Report Consulting Editor Kenneth J A Brookes was invited to attend the first general meeting of the EPMA Additive Manufacturing Group. Ken reports from Frankfurt on what was discussed and agreed.
W
ith excellent communications by road, rail and air, Frankfurt Airport proved an excellent choice for the first general meeting of EAMG (the EPMA Additive Manufacturing Group) in 2014. More than fifty AM enthusiasts participated, contributing a host of ideas to the brainstorming sessions that occupied the second part of the programme. Relatively formal business and presentations took up the pre-lunch session, whilst the afternoon was devoted to the future of powder-based additive manufacturing of metallic objects, and the place of EPMA in cooperative research, education and promotion.
companies (all with the same rights), depending on their levels of PM sales: • Over €10 million (Annual Membership fee: €3395); • Between €3-10 million (Annual Membership fee: €2080); and • Less than €3 million (Annual Membership fee: €1350). Affiliate membership fee for subsidiaries of full members was €800 annually. Associate membership was available for non-European PM companies and all R&D organisations at an annual fee of €1695 irrespective of size, and individual memberships at €200.
The EPMA is governed by a General Assembly, meeting at least one a year, consisting of all corporate members. Elected by the Assembly are a Council of 17 industry representatives, and a President and Treasurer who serve for three years. The Council has seven distinct groups, each representing an industry sector, but at the moment the AM sector is conspicuously absent. I suspect that this will change over the next few years. The organisation has nine permanent staff, based in Shrewsbury, UK. Launched at Gothenburg in 2013 as the fifth EPMA sectoral group, the
EPMA and EAMG Technical Director Olivier Coube (Figure 1) opened the proceedings with an update on the EPMA in general and the EAMG in particular. He explained to newcomers that the European Powder Metallurgy Association, formed in Brussels in 1989, was a non-profit organisation with three key missions: • To promote and develop PM technology in Europe; • To represent the European PM industry within Europe and internationally; and • To develop the future of PM. The EPMA had three levels of full or affiliate membership for European PM
Figure 1: The EAMG Steering Committee: (left-right) Ralf Carlström of Höganäs AB, Sweden; Claus Aumund-Kopp, Fraunhofer IFAM, Germany; Adeline Riou, Erasteel, France; Olivier Coube, EPMA, France; and Keith Murray, Sandvik Osprey, UK.
0026-0657/14 ©2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
March/April 2014 MPR
33
sectoral groups. The EAMG represents the whole supply chain of Additive Manufacturing and was already benefitting from the full support of the EPMA in terms of networking, promotions, synergies and other factors. Next steps would be decided by an EAMG Working Group (of EPMA members only) which would meet regularly to support the Steering Group and discuss its strategy. But initial ideas were to be developed at a Workshop on future EAMG activities, followed by a number of simultaneous brainstorming (or ‘breakout’) sessions – that afternoon.
Education, promotion and events Figure 2: Adeline Riou, EAMG Vice-Chairman responsible for education and publicity.
Figure 3: The EAMG presentation on publicity centred on the MPR account of its launch meeting in Gothenburg.
European Additive Manufacturing Group has as Joint Chairmen Claus Aumund-Kopp (FhG IFAM) and Ralf Carlström (Höganäs AB), and as Joint Vice-Chairmen: Adeline Riou (Erasteel) and Keith Murray (Sandvik Osprey). Olivier Coube acts as EPMA Coordinator for the Group. At the Euro PM2014 Congress and Exhibition in Salzburg in September
34
MPR March/April 2014
there will be a Special Interest Seminar on Progress in Additive Manufacturing, in addition to regular AM sessions which, alphabetically at least, is first among the topics to be covered. Information is available at www.epma. com/pm2014. As an encouragement to EAMG, Olivier detailed the many activities of EPMA already conducted with other
Adeline Riou of Erasteel (Figure 2), Group Vice-Chairman with responsibility for education and publicity, made the next presentation. Luckily transport problems meant that I arrived late, sparing my blushes, since the featured promotion that I missed by seconds was my MPR account of the Group launch in Gothenburg (Figure 3), for which Adeline was largely responsible. One of the problems in promoting additive manufacturing in powder metallurgy is the sheer number of alternative names (Figure 4) for the technology. Some are trade names, some are comprehensive enough to include plastics and cutout cardboard layers, some so restrictive that they cover only a segment of the industry’s metallic sector. By far the most popular with the general public, however, is ‘3D printing’ (Figure 4), but this designation is at the moment primarily (but by no means exclusively) employed for fabrication with plastic filament. ‘Additive manufacturing’ could also fit this usage, but has been virtually appropriated to cover all kinds of metallic fabrication by the technique, and thus the various types involving powder metallurgy. EAMG activities so far include the dedicated Gothenburg seminar, an EAMG leaflet and an event calendar, all of which have received MPR coverage. The Calendar of Events is updated in Table 1. In fact I’ve had to do a little further updating, since the
metal-powder.net
Table 1: EAMG activities: calendar of events. Dates
Event
Country
City
Link
April 6-10
AMUG 2014
USA
Tucson
www.additivemanufacturingusersgroup.com/
May 14-15
Rapidtech
DE
Erfurt
www.rapidtech.de/en/homepage.html
May 18-22
AM PM conference
USA
Orlando
www.mpif.org
June 9-10
Rapid 2014
USA
Detroit
www.rapid.sme.org
June 23-25
AEPR
France
Paris
www.afpr.asso.fr
July 8-9
AM Conference
UK
Nottingham
www.am-conference.com
Sept 21 24
EuroPM
Austria
Salzburg
www.epma.com
Sept 25 26
RM Forum
Italy
Milan
www.eriseventi.com
Sept 30-Oct 2
TCT show
UK
Birmingham
www.tctshow.com
Nov 25-28
Euromold
Germany
Frankfurt
www.euromold.com
important AM Conference organised by Nottingham University on July 8-9 was incorrectly listed for the wrong date and the now superseded venue of Loughborough. The responsible academics have moved their research base from Loughborough University to Nottingham. Future EAMG activities include a 50-page illustrated educative brochure, of which the provisional content headings are listed below: 1 Introduction 2 Benefits of am Processes and Positioning vs Other PM Processes 3 Overview of aAMTechnology & Processes 3.1 Selective Laser Melting (SLM) 3.2 Electron Beam Melting (EBM) 3.3 3D-Printing (Binder Based Printing) 3.4 Screen Printing 3.5 Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) or Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) 3.6 Post Processing Operations
3.7 Quality and Testing 4 Powders, Materials & Material Properties 4.1 Powder manufacturing and characteristics 4.2 Stainless Steels 4.3 Tool Steels 4.4 Nickel-Based Alloys 4.5 Aluminum Alloys 4.6 Titanium Alloys 4.7 Others 5 Design Guidelines 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Cavities and Channels 5.3 Arches and Overhangs 5.4 Lattice Structures & Defined Porosity 5.5 Tolerances of AM parts 6 On Going Developments in AM 6.1 Standardization Activities 6.2 Emerging Materials 6.3 Larger and Faster Production system 6.4 Continuous AM
Figure 4: In any listing of terminology applied to additive manufacturing, ‘3D printing’ is a clear first in popularity.
metal-powder.net
7 8
Summary Case Studies
Prospective contributors are invited to contact claus.aumund-kopp@ifam. fraunhofer.de or [email protected].
'A Special Interest Seminar on Additive Manufacturing' Other suggestions for future activities included e-learning, video interviews, design awards for young students, mapping of European R&D laboratories with AM expertise and equipment, and greater EAMG or EPMA visibility in additive events.
Standardisation activities The next part of this fact-filled session was devoted to Standardisation in AM, led by EAMG Chairman Claus Aumund-Kopp of Fraunhofer IFAM, Germany. Here we were in the area of formal definition, rather than popular description. As Chairman of the British Standards committee on hardmetal cutting tools, the subject has particular resonance for myself. Though both the technologies (machining and AM) rely to a large extent on powder metallurgy, as production methods they are almost diametrically opposed. In the absence of a clear improvement, the ASTM definition of Additive
March/April 2014 MPR
35
Manufacturing, adopted in 2012, appears to have been recognised as the de facto international description. In full, it is a ‘process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies, such as traditional machining’. Aumund-Kopp explained that there a number of priority areas for standardisation: 1. Standards for integration - Physical interoperability; data and information exchange; product and service compatibility. 2. Standards for environmental sustainability - Resource and energy efficiency; clean production; closing the material loop. 3. Standards for quality and performance - Stronger focus on services; performance based standards; updated standards to test new materials. 4. De-risking standards - Health and safety; security; privacy; accessibility; environmental protection. 5. Cross-cutting issues - Standardisation for personalisation and mass customisation; responsive to change standards.
Standards organisations The world organisation is • ISO - International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva, Switzerland. Three major European standards organisations are • CEN - Committee for Standardisation, Brussels • CENELEC - European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation, Brussels • ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France. And the main national institutes in this technical area are • ASTM International - West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA • BSI - British Standards Institution, London • DIN - Deutsche Institut für Normung eV, Berlin, and • VDI - Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf. Where a European standard exists for a particular subject, the purely
36
MPR March/April 2014
national standard is superseded and replaced by the European one, with the addition of a national two- or three-letter prefix. Similarly, a standard could be developed simultaneously at both European (EN) and ISO level, giving a British standard, for example, triple-prefixed BS EN ISO, or a German standard DIN EN ISO. The SASAM Project aims to meet the standardisation needs and requirements of all principal stakeholders in Additive Manufacturing. A number of committee forums, with substantial European involvement have been created, including ASTM’s committee F42 and ISO Technical Committee TC261. According to www.sasam.eu, SASAM committees’ priority topics are: • qualification and certification methods; • design guidelines; • test methods for characteristics of raw materials; • material recycling guidelines; • standards protocols for round-robin testing standard test artefact; • requirements for purchased AM parts; and • harmonisation of existing ISO/ ASTM terminology standards and tests on finished parts. Coordinated by ESA, the European Space Agency, the acronymically designated ‘AMAZE’ project (Additive Manufacturing Aiming towards Zero waste and Efficient production of high-tech metal products) is a largescale EC-FP7 demo project. Its budget is €20 million, half each from the EC and partner contributions, and it has 28 partners from 10 countries: 12 manufacturers, 8 major end-users and 8 universities. It also has its own website: www.amaze-project.eu. For his presentation, AumundKopp detailed additive manufacturing standards that had already been devised, initially by ASTM and then jointly by ASTM and ISO. Their Partner Standards Developing Organization (PSOD) cooperative agreement covers the following: • Fast tracking the adoption process of an ASTM International standard as an ISO final draft international standard; • Formal adoption of a published ISO standard by ASTM International;
• Maintenance of published standards; and • Publication, copyright and commercial arrangements. As of June 2013, two standards to be approved through the PSDO agreement were: • ISO/ASTM 52921: 2013 E, Terminology for Additive Manufacturing • Coordinate Systems and Test Methodologies (originally published as ASTM F2921-11) • ISO/ASTM 52915: 2013 E, Specification for Additive Manufacturing • File Format (AMG) Version 1.1 (originally published as ASTM F2915-11) The many other AM standards existing or under development covered such matters as design file formats, titanium alloy, terminology and test methods (ASTM - USA); rapid prototyping technologies and beam melting of metallic parts (VDI – Germany); rapid prototyping test methods (BSI – UK) and terminology, process categories and feedstock, test methods and data processing (ISO TC261). For AM powder metallurgy, much of the work of ISO committee TC119 is relevant.
'Workshop on future activities of the EAMG' According to the presenter, a major task for all those working in AM is to harmonise existing standards, create new standards in cooperation rather than in competition, and to enhance their coverage in the growth areas of qualification and certification, terminology, design, materials recycling and specification. There is a substantial role here for Europe and a correspondingly important part to play for the EPMA and its EAMG component.
Brainstorming – EAMG breakout group discussions The second and most active (for the audience) part of the meeting was
metal-powder.net
Figure 5: In the breakout session, delegates hard at work with predictive brainstorming.
Figure 6: Heinrich Kestler of Plansee SE explains and interprets the brainstorming contributions of his breakout table.
Figure 7: In a corner of the conference room, delegates pay close attention to a rapporteur.
Figure 8: Henk van den Berg of Kennametal explains collective proposals to apply AM techniques to advanced materials.
devoted to a Workshop on future activities of the EAMG and the Group’s potential contribution to the Powder Metallurgy ‘Roadmap’. This was shorthand for the EPMA’s plans for the next 10 to 20 years for all PM processes, all materials, all industrial sectors and all applications. Much of it had already been written, but those sections applicable to additive manufacturing had been held back, awaiting input from this important Frankfurt meeting. Eight round-table groups, comprising all delegates (including myself), were preselected, each with a Chairman. The Workshop as a whole was introduced by joint EAMG Chairmen Carlström and Aumund-Kopp, who explained the methodology. The following categories were used for discussion purposes: A) Education, training, promotion and networking B) Standardisation C) Research projects and innovation D) Other activities (e.g. benchmarking …)
metal-powder.net
Each delegate was asked to write down ‘concrete expectations’ from the EAMG on a sticky note, annotating each with the corresponding category letter (Figure 5). The notes were stuck to a flip-chart and the delegates used coloured adhesive dots to vote for the most interesting proposals at their table, in both short- and long-term.
Common synthesis session Table chairmen had then to summarise their colleagues’ choices to the assembly, under each of the four categories (Figures 6 and 7). Some of the rapporteurs listed every suggestion in every category, to a total running into dozens. Others were stricter and reduced their submissions to a few items which earned their team’s general agreement. EPMA technical director Olivier Coube set himself the task of collating and recording the suggestions against
the membership of each table team, making a (comparatively) short list of those suggestions in each of the official categories, in order to prepare a more readable listing to aid future EAMG activities. As an example, the table team in which I participated seemed to have been chosen for their general interest in hardmetals, where AM could have great potential but little had so far been published. The eight of us came from five different countries (UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Luxembourg) and our hardworking rapporteur was Henk van den Berg of Kennametal Germany (Figure 8). It could be unfair to list all the proposals and suggestions in this short report, but it will be interesting in a year or two’s time to see how much of the Group’s AM targets, projects and achievements, especially those embodied in the EPMA Roadmap, were based on this single day of collective brainstorming.
March/April 2014 MPR
37