3D printing offers pressure equipment manufacturers the opportunity to overcome the limitations of conventional manufacturing methods in order to implement complex geometries such as hollow bodies or lattice structures as well as economical small-volume production of equipment. However, manufacturers are faced with the challenge of having to prove that their additive manufacturing products comply with the applicable legal requirements.
For this purpose, TÜV SÜD has developed a new certification programme which covers the general safety requirements of the EU Pressure Equipment Directive and the corresponding application of EN 13445, clause 3.1. With this programme, TÜV SÜD’s experts have established a reliable basis for assessing and certifying process quality in additive manufacturing of pressure equipment.
The certification programme was successfully implemented for the first time in a pilot audit at KSB SE & Co. KGaA. KSB is a supplier of pumps and valves and a pioneer of one-stop solutions in metal-based additive manufacturing using powder-bed fusion (PBF).