Lloyd’s Register and TWI launch additive manufacturing projects

Advanced Manufacturing

Lloyd’s Register (LR) and TWI are calling for participants to join two new global collaborative projects focused on additive manufacturing challenges facing industry.

The projects - "Achieving Regulatory and Code Compliance for Additive Manufacturing" and "Joining of Metallic Additively Manufactured Products and Materials" - will explore challenges uncovered during LR and TWI’s first joint industry project, "Certification of Laser Powder Additive Manufactured Components for Industrial Adoption in the Energy and Offshore Sectors".

Additive manufacturing has been widely adopted by the aerospace and medical industries because it creates complex and customised metal parts with a high level of precision, reduced weight and high material utilisation.

There is, however, an unexplored link between additive manufacturing and compliance with standards and regulations that are often used in safety-critical pieces of equipment, such as the American Petroleum Institute code (API), the American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, and Europe’s Pressure Equipment Directive (PED).

According to LR, the project titled Achieving Regulatory and Code Compliance for Additive Manufacturing will investigate the routes to regulatory compliance of parts selected by project sponsors, and will produce data and assessment criteria for the introduction and acceptance of parts through third-party inspection.

The second project, "Joining of Metallic Additively Manufactured Products and Materials" will concentrate on filling in real-world gaps to enable project sponsors to design, fabricate and put into service structures that are comprised of conventionally made parts welded with additively manufactured parts. It is anticipated that project sponsors will gain the confidence to put parts into service in real-world, challenging operating environments and conditions.

The launch meeting and project presentations will be held on Tuesday 24th January 2017 at TWI in Cambridge and also via tele/video-conference. Interested parties should contact Lloyd’s Register at additivemanufacturing@lr.org, or TWI at jip@twi.co.uk.