TÜV SÜD, a leading technical service corporation, has developed a new certification program allowing metal-powder manufacturers to prove the quality of its processes.
“In our certification program for metal-powder manufacturers, we have complemented the requirements of the PED and the W 0 leaflet with our expertise and experience in materials and welding technologies,” said Gunther Kuhn, Head of Product Management in the Plant Safety business unit of TÜV SÜD, he continues “The program provides us with an excellent basis for the reliable assessment and certification of metal-powder manufacturers.”
Due to how new metal additive manufacturing is metal powder is less plentiful than in conventional manufacturing procedures. TÜV SÜD’s certification program has been implemented to assess the quality of materials from Rosswag Engineering, to meet the demands for industrial 3D printed parts.
Rosswag Engineering is a German based company that specializes in the manufacture of custom metal powders and 3D printed components produced in an integrated process chain. The company has a 7000-tonne material warehouse accommodating over 400 metallic materials for production and is one of the leading rolled ring suppliers.
Rosswag started in-house metal-powder manufacturing for the qualification of new materials in 2017, three years after its founding, at the suggestion of the company’s additive manufacturing division. This was enabled by the installation of two SLM Solution 2803D printers.
Gregor Graf, Engineering Manager at Rosswag GmbH, explained: “The purchase of our own atomizing plant made by BluePower Casting Systems GmbH has enabled us to control the entire process chain and massively reduce the time needed for the qualification of new materials.”
“After completing the qualification process, we now have comprehensive data sets comprising metal powder characteristics and Powder Bed Fusion process parameters as well as mechanical and technological, chemical and metallographic material properties,” added Graf.
“The successful audit result confirms that we have full control of our processes and that our production of metal powders for use in additive manufacturing satisfies very high-quality standards.”
Vialva, Tia, et al. “TÜV SÜD’s New Certification Program Qualifies Rosswag as Metal Powder Manufacturer for Additive Manufacturing.” 3D Printing Industry, 3 June 2019, 3dprintingindustry.com/news/tuv-suds-new-certification-program-qualifies-rosswag-as-metal-powder-manufacturer-for-additive-manufacturing-156485/.