New Guideline Of VDI 3405

The guideline is aimed at manufacturers and users of metal powders for use in powder bed-based additive manufacturing systems such as laser beam melting (LBM) and electron beam melting (EBM). It is also aimed at people involved in the quality assurance of additively manufactured components as well as at providers of measurement and testing technology for the characterization of powder materials.

Qualification of powders for the laser sintering of plastic components

VDI 3405 Sheet 1.1 is dedicated to the qualification of powders for the laser sintering of plastic components. This guideline provides specific parameters and recommendations for use to qualify the materials for use. The parameters and recommendations were drawn up with a view to the material polyamide 12 (PA12). Polyamide 11 (PA11) was also explicitly taken into account in some cases. In addition to the various test methods listed in VDI 3405 Sheet 1 for components manufactured additively with the laser sintering method, it is specified which characteristic data a factory test certificate for the material to be processed should contain and which other factors influence the processability of the powder.

Material data sheet of Inconel 718

The also published guideline VDI 3405 sheet 2.2 with the material data sheet of Inconel 718 shows the material characteristic values of components made with the laser beam melting from the nickel alloy material number 2.4668. The test procedures and methods described in VDI 3405 Part 2 were used. Since these are only processes that correspond to the recognized state of the art, a comparison with the characteristics of conventional manufacturing processes is possible. (yup)