Novel Methods for Software Defined Laser Powder Bed Process Qualification / Requalification

Additive Manufacturing (AM) presents unprecedented opportunities for both the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the commercial manufacturing sectors. However, the full realization of these benefits is currently impeded by the substantial time & cost associated with the development of AM materials & machines and the extensive testing and analysis required for qualification / requalification.  As a result, the USAF’s agility of AM processes is compromised, making it difficult to adapt to technological advancements and shifts in the supply chain without undergoing a costly & time-consuming re-qualification process. This qualification process is essential to ensure that all rigorous standards for quality and safety are consistently met.   To address the U.S. Air Force (USAF) need for agile adoption of new manufacturing technologies and development of new accelerated approaches for qualification and certification, in Phase I, Dyndrite Corporation proposes a fundamentally new approach to Qualification / Requalification processes called Software Defined Process Qualification (SDP Qual). Dyndrite R&D addresses this issue by incorporating automated qualification workflows into the qualification / requalification process by automating the build layout, parameter assignment, labeling, logging processes, and by showing control of the process window enables the reduction of qualification time/cost.