As an example of modern production, additive manufacturing ("3D printing") has become indispensable in the manufacture of highly complex metallic components, bionically inspired lightweight construction or prototypes. However, the quality assurance of components for safety-critical applications still poses a challenge. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a comparatively young and data-intensive manufacturing process. It is therefore ideally suited to testing and further developing the new tools of a digital quality infrastructure (QI) for modern production. | |
| In order to strengthen confidence in the technology and establish it on the market, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) are driving forward the development of digitally supported quality assurance as part of the initiative. At the same time, digital QI tools (e.g. standardisation, testing) are being developed. |
Research and Development
The process for digital QI is being tested in the real laboratory and research operation, in which, among other things, the interaction of physical material flow and digital data flow is experimentally researched and described. In the initiative, the tools for digital QI are being further developed and implemented in the Additive Manufacturing pilot project using SMART standards and digital test reports.
The pilot project is linked to the DKE's Initiative Digital Standards (IDiS), which provides impetus for digital standardisation. Embedded in the IDiS pilot projects for the development of SMART standards, the knowledge from standardisation should be able to be applied digitally in the future.
Furthermore, BAM is a member of the VDMA and the Additive Manufacturing working group, which has organised its annual meeting at BAM in 2023, as well as the MGA "mobility goes additive" network and aims to further advance the networking of QI-Digital and connection to the real-world laboratory.
Another example of the networking of QI-Digital is BAM's involvement in the national DIN Standards Committee for Materials Technology (NWT), specifically in NA 145-04-01 AA "AM cross-sectional topics and digitalisation". As a result and initiated by the exchange via the QI-Digital initiative, the pilot project is an active part and even lead in a group of experts on the topic of "Data Based Quality Assurance in AM". The aim here is to incorporate findings from the pilot project into standardisation and to contribute to the development of standard content.
The transfer of content and the positioning of QI-Digital will also be extended to the international arena if these standards are introduced at international level. This is made possible by an exchange between the expert group and the ISO/TC 261 Technical Committee Additive Manufacturing.
To connect the digital solutions, the QI-Digital initiative is developing the Quality-X concept, which is intended to offer a bespoke solution for regulated digital data exchange with stakeholders (data selection, access rights, authentication, etc.).