Is it envisaged an EASA generic CRI to deal with this new technology?
As concise guidance material we have published the CM-S-008 on Additive Manufacturing. A generic CRI would have been a step before a CM publication.
Does EASA has a Group/Team who we can work to develop the processes to qualify additive manufacturing parts.
The appendix 1 of the CM-S-008 does contain a list of technical panel related contact points.
Isn’t there a difference between monolithic materials Vs sandwiched Composite materials?
Of course there is a difference. In terms of various manufacturing processes as well but when we consider it from its layer by layer build-up manufacturing process, it’s also an additive manufacturing process. This was the main intend of considerations within the presentation. For both composites (sandwich and monolithic) we have also clear interfaces between one and the next layers. Of course there is a strong difference in shear force capabilities which are mainly to be expected much lower for sandwich composites.
Do you consider Rapid Prototyping as Additive Manufacturing?
Rapid Prototyping is definitely additive manufacturing but it was actually just the beginning of this technology:
initially there was no concern on the statistical material properties. Rapid prototyping was being used for manufacturing of sophisticated moulds for castings or for non-critical non-loaded parts to fit into prototype designs. For serial parts production and also going from non-loaded to critical loaded parts, much more stringent requirements for material properties and manufacturing process stability will have to be fulfilled.