Salt Spray & Corrosion Testing of 3D Printed Parts — Proving Outdoor & Marine Durability Cla
You cannot win an outdoor, marine or industrial order on a marketing claim of weather resistance. Salt spray and corrosion testing is how you prove it. This gui
Non-Destructive Testing of 3D Printed Parts — Finding Internal Voids, Porosity & Delamination Be
Dimensional metrology tells you the part measures the right size; it says nothing about what is inside. Non-destructive testing of 3D printed parts finds what a
Mechanical Testing of 3D Printed Parts — The ASTM Data a Production Buyer Demands
Material datasheets quote the polymer; they do not quote your part. This guide explains mechanical testing of 3D printed parts — ASTM D638 tensile, D695 compres
Contract Manufacturing With 3D Printing — Turning Production Capacity Into Parts Revenue
Selling a 3D printer and selling the parts that come off it are two different businesses. This guide explains the contract-manufacturing model for additive manu
Post-Print Secondary Operations — Machining 3D Printed Parts to Spec
A 3D printed part leaves the machine as a near-net shape, but it almost never leaves it runnable as a precision component. Threads, tight bores, datum faces and
Dimensional Inspection of 3D Printed Parts — How to Verify They Meet Spec
A 3D printed part may be on size in its own build plane and still be out of spec on the customer's drawing. This guide explains how to verify printed part geome
PPAP & FAI for 3D Printed Parts — Production Part Approval Process
A production part approval process (PPAP) is the paper trail an OEM buyer uses to prove a supplier can repeat the same part, batch after batch. Additive manufac
Ra & Rz Surface Roughness — Measuring & Specifying 3D Printed Parts
Surface roughness is the micro-texture left on a part, and it is one of the few printable characteristics a customer can specify with a number. Ra and Rz are th
Overmolding on 3D Printed Inserts — Hybrid Parts & Soft-Touch Grips
Overmolding is a secondary process that cuts a part from a single material into a two-material object: a rigid core that carries the load and a soft polymer gri
ESD Control for 3D Printed Tooling — Anti-Static Materials & Surface Resistance
A static discharge that you cannot see can destroy a printed circuit board, a sensor or a sealed electronics module in microseconds, and the tooling that handle
