Summary of NDE of additive manufacturing efforts in NASA

One of the major obstacles slowing the acceptance of parts made by additive manufacturing (AM) in NASA applications is the lack of a broadly accepted materials and process quality systems; and more specifically, the lack of adequate nondestructive evaluation (NDE) processes integrated into AM. Matching voluntary consensus standards are also needed to control the consistency of input materials, process equipment, process methods, finished part properties, and how those properties are characterized. As for nondestructive characterization, procedures are needed to interrogate features unique to parts made by AM, such as fine-scale porosity, deeply embedded flaws, complex part geometry, and intricate internal features. The NDE methods developed must be tailored to meet materials, design and test requirements encountered throughout the part life cycle, whether during process optimization, real-time process monitoring, finished part qualification and certification (especially of flight hardware), or in situ hea...