AMiquam invited to the ICAM22 conference co-organised by ESA and NASA

We had the chance to present our results this month at the first ICAM22 co-organised by ESA and NASA. The “CT, MDI and Residual stress applied to AM” session gave us the opportunity to exchange with NASA and VTT scientists. It was very rewarding for us to see how much our efforts are aligned with those of NASA in terms of in-situ NDT in additive manufacturing context. Concerning part quality certification, the necessity to demonstrate a known correlation between indications, physics of the process, and actual defects has been reminded, and the challenge to achieve it with the usual AM process monitoring techniques has been highlighted. There was a consensus that starting with an established NDT technique, as AMiquam is doing, is the good way to go to reach in-machine part certification.

The discussion also covered the promises and challenges of adaptive parameter control. While it can lead to gains in efficiency, the process validation becomes more complex and process-parameter-based compliance can become impossible. The AMiquam in-situ NDT control solutions enable to efficiently assess the impact of process parameters on part quality, and therefore to set standard-based bounds to actively controlled parameters. This approach of quality-driven and data-driven process control combines the best of two worlds: the explainability of NDT and the efficiency of AI.