In-process monitoring of metal AM parts for commercial aviation: from confidence to evidence

 We are thrilled to announce that AMiquam has been featured in the latest report by industry experts Donald G Godfrey and Fernando Lartategui, focusing on acceptance of in-process monitoring for metal additive manufacturing (AM) in commercial aviation. This acknowledgment underscores our relentless dedication to pioneering innovation and maintaining excellence within the industry.

 One statement from the report summarizes the driving force of our company

 This sheds light on the limitations of present monitoring technologies, particularly because of their inability to directly correlate indications with subsurface defects. Consequently, post-process destructive and non-destructive testing (NDT) remains a necessary step, with unsolved issues related to delays and increasing costs, hindering widespread adoption of aviation parts manufactured with AM.
 To address these challenges, the industry requires complementary monitoring technologies capable of providing evidence regarding the presence of subsurface defects. Despite the need for innovation, constraints such as limited financial resources in the industry and small production volume hinder the development of alternative physical principles for monitoring in metal AM machines.
 In response to these challenges, AMiquam is leading the way by integrating electromagnetic NDT systems into metal AM machines, with a first small scale sensor array already deployed in production context (TRL 7). While this application cannot serve as a standalone part certification solution today, it already significantly enhances existing monitoring technologies by offering crucial subsurface and material quality information that bolsters part qualification.
 Looking ahead, our future large sensor array (TRL 4) to be released this year sets the stage for in-process part certification, provided in-situ measurements demonstrate that stress and part distortion remain within defined limits. By ensuring the part is defect-free at the end of fabrication and unlikely to generate subsequent defects during post-process operations, this approach represents a promising pathway toward safe and expedited part certification in metal AM.
 Join us as we continue to pave the way toward a future of safer, more efficient, and more reliable aerospace components.