According to engineerlive.com, the ASTM International committee focused on additive manufacturing is developing a new standard to tackle a fundamental weakness in 3D printed polymer parts. The proposed standard, WK81710, specifically targets the inter-layer weld—the bond between deposited material layers, which is often the part’s weakest point. An expert from the National Research Council of Canada noted that existing tests, like tensile tests, haven’t been reliable for measuring this property. This new method promises repeatable shear testing to give manufacturers consistent data for the first time.
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Why This Is a Big Deal
Here’s the thing: if you’ve ever snapped a 3D printed part, it probably broke along those layer lines. That’s the inter-layer weld failing. For years, it’s been the Achilles’ heel of polymer extrusion printing. The problem wasn’t just that it was weak, but that we couldn’t even measure its weakness consistently. How can you improve what you can’t reliably quantify?
This standard changes the game. It’s not about creating a new material or a fancy printer. It’s about providing the fundamental tools for quality control and process optimization. Manufacturers will finally have a dependable way to answer the question: “Is my printing process actually producing strong parts?”
The Business and Sustainability Angle
So who benefits? Basically, everyone in the manufacturing chain. Part designers get reliable data to design better. Process developers can fine-tune printing parameters with confidence. And quality assurance teams get a ongoing check on production quality. This turns 3D printing from a prototyping novelty into a serious manufacturing method.
The timing is perfect. As industries look to adopt more additive manufacturing for end-use parts, they need this kind of quality assurance. You can’t sell a car with 3D printed components if you can’t prove their structural integrity. This standard provides that proof.
And there’s a strong sustainability story here, tied directly to UN Sustainable Development Goal 12. By optimizing the polymer AM process, manufacturers can move away from traditional methods like injection molding that require massive amounts of energy and material just to create the tooling. We’re talking about producing complex parts directly, without all that waste. That’s a huge win for responsible production.
What Comes Next
Now, this is still a proposed standard working its way through ASTM’s Committee F42. The real test will be industry adoption. But if it delivers on its promise of repeatable results, it could become the benchmark that finally unlocks the full potential of polymer extrusion manufacturing. We might look back at this as the moment 3D printing grew up and became a real engineering discipline.
