SAE AMS-AMDC, Charter
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SAE Industry Technologies Consortia and Charter Members Launch the SAE AMS-Additive Manufacturing Data Consortium

The Consortium will work to support material specifications for additively manufactured materials.
WARRENDALE, Pa. (December 15, 2020) 

SAE ITC, along with charter members GE, Moog, Liberty Powder Metals, Westmoreland Mechanical Testing & Research, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), Innovative 3D Manufacturing, and Tronosjet Maintenance announce the formation of the SAE AMS – Additive Manufacturing Data Consortium to support development of aerospace material specifications for additive manufacturing.

"Born from industry need and initiative, SAE AMS-AMDC was created to support the aerospace industry's growing use of additive manufacturing through the development of datasets required for material qualification," said Laurie Strom, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SAE ITC.

Rigorous material specifications are part of the bedrock of material usage in aerospace applications.  These in turn support the material handbooks used by the aerospace design community, especially those that are certified under the FAA, EASA, or other aviation regulatory agencies. The charter members of the consortium recognize the importance of these material specifications.  "Innovative 3D joined AMDC as a charter member as we want to see the continued integration of additive manufacturing into part production" said Chris Beck, president and co-owner of Innovative 3D.  "Part of that integration is material specifications, and the Consortium will help accelerate that process."

With decades of history of publishing Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS), SAE International was approached by the FAA to apply the same expert methodology and experience for additively manufactured materials in 2015.  The nearly 600 members of the SAE AMS-AM committee have created material and process specifications for both metals and non-metals within the past 5 years.  To accelerate the advancement of additional specifications, the committee identified a need for pedigreed datasets on which to base additional material specifications.  The members of SAE AMS-AMDC will collectively build and share datasets – each contributing its expertise and capabilities to design, build, treat, test, and analysis of test articles.  They will also contribute data from previous or ongoing projects.  The consortium will prepare the datasets for use by the SAE AMS-AM committee to build new material specifications that will support further uses of additive manufacturing.

David Abbott, GE Senior Engineer and SAE AMS-AM Committee Chair said, "There is a strong need for additive industrial specifications that meet the demanding requirements of the aerospace sector.  SAE AMS specifications fill that need by producing specifications that are created by the aerospace community for the aerospace community.  One of the demanding requirements is that all lot acceptance values be based on actual data and that the data be statistically significant, similar to an S-basis but as applied to additive materials and processes.  Data like that is very expensive to generate, and the funding to do that is very difficult to come by, especially in today's economic environment.  The SAE AMS-AMDC consortium is an industry collaboration that enables the generation of that data through the pooling of resources across the aerospace sector on a precompetitive basis. The AMDC also establishes the gold standard for producing mechanical property data for the aerospace sector that meets fidelity and pedigree requirements.  Longer term, as the consortium grows, it will provide data and information that goes beyond lot acceptance and that will be used for engineering studies and analyses to inform development and engineering decisions and that will also be used in the support of qualification and certification." Ross Trepleton, Chief Engineer, Component Manufacturing Technology at MTC further stated, "At the UK's National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, we believe that additive manufacturing will be adopted faster if entire supply chains can access equipment, knowledge and start to innovate around their applications. Material specifications are fundamental to unlocking this innovation."

"For further uptake in the usage of additive manufacturing, both in aerospace, along with other industrial sectors, there needs to be more openness and collaboration within the industry.  Programs such as SAE AMS AMDC will be pivotal to move this technology forward, creating a place where organizations are able to collaborate to gain further acceptance by regulatory bodies, as well as potential end users."  - Dr. Matthew Harding, Program Manager – AM, Tronosjet.

Regulators support this effort for additional qualified input for development of material specifications.  The European Aviation Safety Agency's Simon Waite, Senior Expert – Materials, Certification Directorate stated, "In the context of the regulators move towards 'performance' based regulation, EASA recognises the potential benefit to the industry of using 'common' materials, supported by developing guidance, and shared database approaches."

The consortium will benefit from additional technical support from The Barnes Global Advisors (TBGA), a large independent additive manufacturing engineering consultancy.  John E. Barnes, Founder and Managing Director TBGA said, "TBGA is really excited to partner with SAE ITC on the AMDC, because we see it as instrumental to the industrialization of AM.  Specification minimums are essential to the design process. By bringing industry players together for data sharing and development, SAE is creating tremendous value."

"WMT&R is excited to be a partner in this important effort to generate mechanical property data toward the creation of SAE AMS standards for new AM products, and we look forward to working with SAE and other consortium members" said Michael J. Rossi, Vice President, Westmoreland Mechanical Testing and Research, Inc. Dr. Paul Guerrier, Engineering Manager at Moog stated, "From the start of Moog's journey in additive manufacturing we recognized that mechanical properties of additive material are an important enabler for aerospace applications. Joining SAE ITC Additive Manufacturing Data Consortium will allow Moog to access more mechanical property data and ultimately apply additive manufacturing to more customer applications." SAE ITC and SAE International echo the new members' excitement, look forward to the work under SAE AMS-AMDC, and welcome organizations to participate in this endeavor.

Additional SAE AMS-AMDC Consortium Member Information:

  • GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE, is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.
  • Westmoreland Mechanical Testing & Research, Inc. is recognized as a world leader in materials testing for the Aerospace, Aviation, Automotive, Medical and Power Generation Industries, with over 350,000 sq. ft. of combined state-of-the-art-facilities that houses Material Testing, Research & Development, and Heat-Treating Laboratories as well as fully integrated Machine Shops. WMT&R is Nadcap and A2LA certified and carries approvals from over 60 of the top companies in these industries.
  • LIBERTY Steel Group, part of the GFG Alliance and a leading GREENSTEEL producer, is a global integrated steel business bringing together assets across the steel supply chain, from production of liquid steel from raw and recycled materials through to high value precision engineered steels. With a total rolling capacity of 18 million tonnes, 200+ manufacturing locations globally across 10 countries and employing more than 30,000 people, LIBERTY Steel's furnaces, mills, services centres and distribution sites across the UK, continental Europe, Australia, the United States and China serve demanding sectors such as construction, energy, aerospace, automotive, and infrastructure. LIBERTY Steel is a leader in sustainable industry with a mission to become Carbon Neutral by 2030 (CN30).  
  • Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moog's high-performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery, and marine and medical equipment. Additional information about the company can be found at www.moog.com.
  • The UK's National Centre for Additive Manufacturing – part of the Manufacturing Technology Centre near Coventry - is the UK's independent body for additive manufacturing. Its mission is to accelerate the uptake of additive manufacturing in the UK.  The National Centre can help UK based companies with research and development projects, training and advice. We are also beginning to make our knowledge available on Knowledge Hub, our online reference library. The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) was established in 2010 as an independent Research & Technology Organisation (RTO) with the objective of bridging the gap between academia and industry.
  • Innovative 3D Manufacturing, based in Franklin, Indiana, provides metal additive manufacturing for a range of industries worldwide.  Using laser powder-bed fusion and wire EDM machines they support both prototyping and customer parts in aerospace, medical, and ground vehicles. 
  • Tronosjet Maintenance Inc has been operating on Prince Edward Island, Canada, since 2004 as an aircraft trading and airframe Approved Maintenance Organization (AMO), specializing in BAe146/Avro RJ aircraft.  In 2016 Tronos established a Manufacturing Division with the sole intent of moving towards additive manufacturing for aerospace applications, with laser powder bed fusion machines along with various support equipment.
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