Sigma Labs, a developer of additive manufacturing software for Santa Fe, announced that it has partnered with international aerospace company Airbus to deploy Sigma Labs' PrintRite3D quality assurance software.
Airbus will use the new PrintRite3D version 5.0 rapid test and evaluation program to test and evaluate metal additive manufacturing to continuously produce printed parts in the aerospace industry and validate powder bed fusion 3D printers.
Sigma Labs' PrintRite3D is a combination of a hardware module and two software modules for additive manufacturing quality assurance and process monitoring. When used together, they collect and process data that users analyze and examine in real time, and implement corrections if necessary.
The company said that with the growth and application of additive manufacturing in the aerospace sector, qualified processes are essential to increase and ensure the quality of parts. The cooperation with Airbus aims to provide a quality assurance solution through PrintRite3D, which can provide process knowledge and knowledge of the melt pool dynamics to improve the consistency of the additive manufacturing process.
As early as 2019, an undisclosed global additive manufacturing materials and services provider also partnered with Sigma Labs to participate in its testing and evaluation program. It was subsequently reported that Sigma Labs obtained third-party verification of its PrintRite3D platform in a study by the US defense agency DARPA.
Following the launch of the latest version of PrintRite3D at RAPID + TCT in May 2019, the division signed a memorandum of understanding with Belgian 3D printing software company Materialize, which also cooperates with Airbus. Sigma Labs and Materialise will combine their expertise to develop and commercialize an integrated in-situ quality assurance (QA) system for metal 3D printing.
Under the Sigma Labs test and evaluation program, Airbus will receive the PrintRite3D online quality assurance (IPQA) system. IPQA's services include hardware, software, training, engineering and metallurgical consulting and support. The purpose of the program is to demonstrate the value of Sigma Labs' PrintRite3D software and its ability to monitor and verify materials, machine processes, production consistency and repeatability of additive manufacturing operations.
In addition, the test and evaluation program will alert Airbus engineers to discrete precursors to the additive manufacturing process. Sigma Labs also aims to showcase the power of PrintRite3D INSPECT 5.0, a software module that enables online inspection of metallurgical properties. Ultimately, the program is expected to provide certification for metal additive manufacturing systems for Airbus' aerospace series production.