Standardization Roadmap For Additive Manufacturing Published
America Makes and ANSI has announced the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing, Version 3.0, developed by the AMSC. The roadmap describes the current and desired future standardization landscape for additive manufacturing (AM), and focuses on industrial market sectors using AM technologies.
A total of 141 standardization gaps (including 60 new gaps) are identified with corresponding recommendations across the AM lifecycle areas of: design; precursor materials; process control; post-processing; finished material properties; qualification and certification; nondestructive evaluation; maintenance and repair; and data. The hope is that the roadmap will be broadly adopted by the user community to facilitate a more coordinated approach to the future development of AM standards.
Approximately 300 individuals from 150 public- and private-sector organizations supported the roadmap’s development, including representatives of U.S. federal government agencies and national laboratories, SDOs, industry, academia, and others. The document represents the culmination of the AMSC’s work since September 2022 to identify key safety, performance, and quality issues for AM technologies, relevant published standards and those in development, as well as to assess gaps. A “gap” means that a standard or specification does not exist addressing the issue in question.
The roadmap provides prioritized timeframes for when standards work should occur. Of the 141 gaps, 54 gaps/recommendations are identified as high priority, 64 as medium priority, and 23 as low priority. In 91 cases, additional pre-standardization research and development (R&D) is needed. The roadmap also identifies SDOs or others that may be able to develop the standards or perform the R&D. Looking ahead, the AMSC will continue to track progress by the SDOs to address the roadmap’s gaps and recommendations.
The impetus to develop an update to the roadmap—last published in June 2018—began following a 2022 survey on the use of the roadmap. The AMSC advisory group—comprised of industry, government, and SDO representatives—concluded it was time to update the document to maintain its relevancy and alignment with current practices and stakeholder needs.
