Aurora, DNV GL target 3D printing for oil and gas, renewables

3D printing firm Aurora Labs is to work with Norwegian certification group DNV GL towards producing 3D-printed parts on Aurora machines that can be independently certified as fit for their intended purpose in the oil and gas, renwables and marine industries.

The independent certification of Aurora’s 3D-printed parts should facilitate the take-up of its 3Dprinters in oil and gas and marine markets as currently printed parts cannot be used in these areas without certification, says Aurora.

Brice Le Gallo, Regional Manager for SEA & Australia, DNV GL – Oil & Gas, stated: “While additive manufacturing (AM) is raising more and more interest in various industries, the adoption level in the oil and gas and maritime industries is still slow due to challenges in qualification and certification.” 

The firms are to work together to: 

• Create a process whereby parts printed by Aurora machines can be independently certified by DNV GL
• That the end to end certification process, including the use of Aurora’s management software, allows for parts to be certified whilst being printed and then independently verified by DNV GL
• Develop a certification standard for Aurora For a part and a process to be independently certified as fit for purpose, there are a number of flow on areas that will also need to be independently certified. Including but not limited to: powder testing for all critical performance criteria, e.g. morphology, chemistry, etc., the 3D printer, printer operators, the installation environment, and the process for design validation.

“DNV GL will support us in helping establish certification covering the whole value chain, from powders to parts, certifying the technical performance of our technology, and independently endorsing our processes and products. The independent certification will provide us with enhanced credibility when speaking to potential customers and will be a big step forward in recognition of the technology we have developed,” says David Budge, Managing Director and Interim Chairman.

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