Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo

Qualification in additive manufacturing (AM) ensures that machines, facilities, personnel, and feedstock meet stringent requirements for consistent, reliable production. It aligns closely with certification but focuses on production readiness. Qualification involves several levels:

  1. Qualification: Verifies that an organization has comprehensive quality systems, approved AM processes, and related equipment. It encompasses training, materials control, and post-processing.
  2. Machine Qualification: Includes factory acceptance testing (FAT), installation qualification (IQ), and operational qualification (OQ). FAT tests machine functionality before delivery. IQ confirms proper installation, while OQ ensures consistent part production within specified limits.
  3. Part Qualification: Demonstrates that a machine-feedstock-process combination meets engineering and production specifications. It involves build file analysis, acceptance testing, and often destructive testing of first articles.
  4. Process Qualification (PQ): Common in medical and high-volume industries, PQ qualifies part families by testing process extremes, reducing individual part qualification needs.
  5. Personnel Qualification: Ensures operators are trained and tested for competence, with defined roles.
  6. Future advancements aim to streamline qualification through automation, better process control, and integrated statistical process control (SPC). Improvements in ICME, in-situ NDT, and predictive modeling will reduce destructive testing, allowing faster, more efficient qualification and production acceptance. Certification will evolve to enable part-family and feature-based design values, enhancing flexibility while maintaining safety and reliability.

Future advancements aim to streamline qualification through automation, better process control, and integrated statistical process control (SPC). Improvements in ICME, in-situ NDT, and predictive modeling will reduce destructive testing, allowing faster, more efficient qualification and production acceptance. Certification will evolve to enable part-family and feature-based design values, enhancing flexibility while maintaining safety and reliability.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/additive-manufacturing-essentials/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/additive-manufacturing-essentials/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Feb 19, 2025 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.