3D printing meets the aviation and aerospace industry: Nadcap certification

The company toolcraft from Georgensgmünd in Middle Franconia in Germany manufactures high-end precision parts, components and assemblies for different high-tech industries. Here, the family company considers itself as a pioneer for new, innovative production technologies such as additive manufacturing and customised turnkey robot solutions. Together with partners from industry as well as research institutes and universities, toolcraft aims to develop complete solutions that are pioneering in their field. A crucial area is the aviation and aerospace industry, for which the company regularly undergoes certification processes.

Challenges In order to be allowed to manufacture components for the aviation and aerospace industry, the entire production environment of manufacturing companies has to undergo comprehensive certification. At the centre of this is Nadcap (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program), a unique association of companies from the aviation and aerospace industry. Together, they aim to ensure a uniformly high level of quality within the sector and to implement special production processes in as cost efficient a manner as possible. toolcraft was one of the first European companies that decided to go through the difficult Nadcap certification for 3D printing with metals, in order to give themselves a competitive edge against their competitors in the industry. Successful certification involves documenting and ensuring transparency over the numerous process steps which take place before, during and after the LMF process with the 3D printer. Complete verification of the powder used is just as much part of this process as inspecting the component quality through optical and tactile measurement and non-destructive surface testing. Special attention is also paid to the LMF process. In addition to monitoring of oxygen levels and air humidity in the process chamber, it must, for example, be verifiable that the laser power and shape of the laser beam within the TruPrint 3000 3D printer used are coordinated in such a way that every part produced in it is exposed in precisely the same way.

Solutions Preparation is everything - that is especially true for Nadcap certification. Before the actual audit, TRUMPF proactively supported toolcraft with ideas, solutions and suggestions so they could provide evidence of quality assurance for the entire process chain – before, during and after the build job. To do so, the TRUMPF staff studied the Nadcap question catalogue intensively and developed testing procedures such as path accuracy analysis and laser power measurement. Of course, the actual machine is part of the audit. toolcraft could fully rely on TRUMPF as a laser and mechanical engineering specialist. Thanks to plenty of expertise and decades of experience in laser technology, TRUMPF guarantees the highest level of quality and process stability even for the actual laser source and all its individual components.

Implementation Among other things, toolcraft has an in-house laboratory with extensive equipment for checking the powder and component quality. For example, oxygen and nitrogen can be analysed in the powder or in the solid melted matter. Powder management is a pivotal element for Nadcap. Moreover, the company uses its own tensile testing facility and has installed fatigue strength systems. A further key to success for certification is the overall TRUMPF concept. Servicing and maintenance of the machines by TRUMPF's Technical Service is also an important criterion, as are the intelligent monitoring solutions which professionally analyse and monitor the LMF process. Furthermore, the exchangeable cylinder principle of TruPrint machines facilitates a smooth parts flow. toolcraft manufactures each and every material on their own machine, installed in the newly built hall, which is optimally customised to the requirements of additive manufacturing. They use a separate room with a corresponding unpacking and sieving station for powder and parts handling. The intensive preparation paid off: toolcraft passed the Nadcap certification – with zero errors.

Outlook toolcraft now belongs to a select group of companies which are the first to be able to produce 3D-printed parts for the aerospace sector to the highest standards. Contact with customers from the sector shows that Nadcap gives toolcraft the clear competitive advantage compared to other potential suppliers. Both TRUMPF and toolcraft have learned a great deal thanks to the close and collaborative cooperation during the testing procedure, equipping both companies for the next challenge in the best possible way.