Designing for additive manufacturing poses several challenges, not the least of which includes the lack of established design allowables for parts used in regulated industries. Unlike metal, where these statistically derived mechanical properties are well established, there are few such resources available for polymer additive manufacturing.
The good news is this is changing. The new Stratasys AIS™ additive industrial solution provides a path to access the design allowables for three high-performance FDM® materials:
Stratasys publishes datasheets for all of its materials and they include physical and mechanical properties, among other characteristics. So how does that differ from a design allowables database, since that also provides information on material properties?
In short, standard datasheets provide a 3D printing material’s baseline capabilities. In contrast, a material’s design allowables database contains statistically derived design values based on extensive testing across multiple material batches, printers, and conditions. It also includes requirements for standardized processing, printer configuration, and quality controls to ensure repeatability and traceability. This is usually required for critical applications or for parts used in a regulated industry such as aerospace.
Staying with an aerospace scenario, when an engineer wants to qualify a polymer additive material for an aircraft part, they’ve traditionally had only one option – to embark on a time consuming and expensive internal qualification process. They can’t just look up a MIL-STD or ASTM specification for an additive polymer material like they can for metals because the standards, for the most part, don’t exist.
There are several reasons for this, but a significant one is that additive technology comprises more than a material – it’s a process – which involves multiple factors that include variations from printer to printer, how they’re maintained, and material variabilities. So to qualify a 3D printed part, a company has to spend significant time and resources testing and establishing a material standard as well as a process that will consistently produce and maintain that standard.
However, that’s the problem the Stratasys AIS additive industrial solution is designed to address. It provides the material-allowables standards, the process, and controls a manufacturer would have to develop on its own through rigorous testing and validation. With AIS, the manufacturer’s workload is significantly reduced – it just needs to show that it can produce printed parts that are equivalent to the established standard. That equates to much less time and fewer dollars spent getting there.
As mentioned earlier, the AIS is made up of several pieces, the core elements being the path to leverage the design allowables for the ULTEM™ and Antero materials. The database of properties for each of these materials was developed in collaboration with the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) and now reside in the public domain, accessible to manufacturers. Also included with AIS are the tools, documentation, and training needed to streamline the qualification process.
Additive manufacturing offers multiple advantages over traditional manufacturing in many scenarios. Although using it for mission-critical applications in regulated industries poses some challenges, the AIS solution helps overcome those hurdles while saving manufacturers significant time and financial resources.
For a closer look, download our Solution Guide , and get more details on what AIS includes and how it can help. Or contact a Stratasys representative to discuss the potential benefits for your operation and ask questions.
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