Qualification of 3-D Printed AlSi10Mg Part for Military Airborne Applications

The quality of parts manufactured through additive manufacturing (AM) is dependent on many inter connected process parameters. The qualification of the parts made through the additive manufacturing is also complex due to this interconnection. The complete qualification procedure can be broadly divided into three categories i.e. qualification of input materials, qualification of process related characteristics and qualification of final product. Qualification of input material requires the morphology, shape, particle size, chemical composition, mass flow rate, apparent density, tap density etc. Qualification of process related characteristics requires scan speed, laser power etc. for the process. Qualification of final product involves tensile, shear and hardness tests, microstructure evaluation, residual stress measurement etc. These tests are carried out on specimens concurrently produced with the parts as well as on specimen extracted from parts. The qualification is aided by the presence of existing part made of bar stock, forging or casting so that the comparison of properties can be made between this part and additive manufactured part. The comparison helps to restructure the certification procedure to iron out any flows in the certification procedure. Thus a comprehensive certification procedure is established and carried out for airborne application to qualify additive manufacturing processed AlSi10Mg part for military application. The part is certified and successfully used in aircraft.