Additive Assurance Talks Ensuring Part Quality in Metal 3D Printing

Metal additive manufacturing is being used by many advanced industries thanks to the ability to create complex and customized parts. However, to ensure feasibility and quality, it is essential to validate the parts obtained. This is an essential step to avoid defects and ensure optimal performance. In turn, certifications ensure that specifications and mechanical properties are consistent in each production batch, providing confidence to end users. Thanks to these processes, users are assured of the quality, durability and reliability of components, facilitating their integration into diverse applications, from medical and aerospace to automotive and industrial sectors. This contributes to the consolidation of metal additive manufacturing as a viable option in Industry 4.0. One of the companies at the forefront of this technology is Additive Assurance, with its AMiRIS solution. We spoke with its founders to learn more about their activity.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and tell us your connection to 3D printing?

I’m Marten Jurg, an additive manufacturing engineer and CEO of Additive Assurance. With my co-founder Andrey Molotnikov, we started Additive Assurance to solve what we saw as the most important limitation in 3D printing: part repeatability and consistency. We’ve been pushing the boundaries of metal additive manufacturing for more than a decade. I started working in additive manufacturing (AM) through research R&D projects for aerospace systems integrators, and later took on projects in other sectors, such as energy and medical devices. From this experience, qualification and certification have always been very much in the forefront. While it’s great to be able to manufacture complex geometries, if you can’t certify them for use, they’re useless.

Additive Assurance co-founders Marten Jurg (left) and Andrey Molotnikov (right).

When we started, we were investigating the fatigue properties of L-PBF parts for aerospace applications, where the impact of stochastic defects can create a significant reduction in part design life, and the potential of AM designs. We saw that the stochastic nature of AM drove up costs and posed a barrier to adoption. We realized that if we could ensure part consistency through inspection, we could help reduce costs and unlock large-scale production.