The additive
manufacturing industry will greatly benefit from a new ASTM International standard
that will allow computer-aided design programs, scanners, and 3D graphical
editors to communicate with 3D printers and additive manufacturing equipment.
The standard will answer the growing need within the industry for a standard
interchange file format that can work with features such as color, texture,
material, substructure, and other properties of a fabricated target object.
The new standard, ASTM F2915, Specification for Additive
Manufacturing File Format (AMF), was developed by Subcommittee F42.04 on
Design, part of ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies.
"As additive
manufacturing technology is quickly evolving from producing primarily
single-material, homogeneous shapes to producing multi-material geometries in
full color with functionally graded materials and microstructures, there is a
growing need for a standard interchange file format that can support these
features," says Hod Lipson, PhD, associate professor, Cornell University, and
an F42.04 member. "ASTM F2915 is XML-based, covers these new capabilities and
allows for expansion."
According to Lipson,
ASTM F2915 will provide
engineers, architects, artists, and anyone involved in 3D design and printing
to seamlessly transition from design to physical printed object, independent of
the specific software or printer hardware being used.
"This is similar to
the PDF file format that allows any document to be viewed and printed
regardless of the display and printer being used," says Lipson. "The
availability of such a standard is key to growth of the additive manufacture
industry and the proliferation of new applications."
Lipson notes that
geometric design software vendors and 3D printer manufacturers will be the
primary users of ASTM F2915, but he also says that anyone involved in the
design, aggregation, fabrication and consumption of 3D objects using new
additive manufacturing technologies would benefit from use of the new standard.
A Website with files, documentation, and forums for ASTM
F2915 is located at www.stl2.com.
ASTM International, www.astm.org
