CSEM has recently become a member of the ASTM International Consortium for Materials Data and Standardization (CMDS) initiative, which is managed by the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE). The CMDS program aims to facilitate collaboration between companies of all sizes from the additive manufacturing (AM) ecosystem to share material data and standardize the requirements and best practices for generating, maintaining, and managing the data needed to expedite the industrialization and full adoption of AM technologies.
Developing comprehensive material datasets is crucial for companies in various industries to safely introduce AM into the design and production of future products. The cost of creating a complete dataset for a single material can reach up to 1 million US Dollars, depending on the desired properties. The CMDS program, which was established in 2022 by 21 companies and organizations, brings together key organizations to standardize material data requirements and best practices, thus significantly reducing costs for individual member organizations.
The initiative has expanded its focus beyond aerospace and defense to include members from the energy, oil and gas, transportation, and medical industries. Some of the new members of the CMDS program are ASTRO Mechanical Testing Laboratory, DSH Technologies, Dyndrite Corporation, Elnik Systems, Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG), Plastometrex, Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, SLM Solutions Group AG, and CSEM.
Each year, the CMDS program selects materials and application-specific properties of interest and conducts various projects to support the development of datasets and standards, with members retaining exclusive use of the full datasets. The knowledge gained will aid in the broader adoption of AM, inform new AM standards and specifications, and promote consistency of data across the industry.
Accelerating the adoption of AM through standards and materials data
For CSEM, joining the CMDS program means promoting AM adoption in the industry and actively participating in the AM value chain. The consortium has chosen two frequently used AM techniques—laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) and binder jetting technology (BJT)—to focus on defining and executing projects to generate data on AM materials with high pedigrees of interest.
CSEM will benefit from the consortium’s efforts to accelerate the adoption of AM technologies through standardization by establishing requirements and developing best practices for creating robust AM materials datasets, conducting consortium-funded R&D projects to create common “reference” material datasets, maintaining a secure data management system for members only, and sharing experience and consortium-approved material data with F42 standards development committees.
Olha Sereda, Additive Manufacturing & Component Reliability Group leader at CSEM, expressed her belief that participation in the CMDS program will boost the potential of AM in real industrial applications worldwide, particularly in Switzerland. The benefits of additive manufacturing will be amplified, and industrial applications accelerated with the help of the CMDS program.
