Overview
EN ISO/ASTM 52910:2019 (identical to ISO/ASTM 52910:2018) is a European/ international standard that sets out requirements, guidelines and recommendations for design using additive manufacturing (AM). It applies to the design phase for all types of products, devices, systems, components and parts fabricated by any AM system. The standard helps designers determine which design considerations to use to exploit AM capabilities and to identify limitations - while explicitly not providing process‑specific or material‑specific recipes or solutions.
Key Topics and Requirements
The standard organizes guidance into clear technical topics to support consistent AM design practice:
- Design opportunities and limitations - how AM enables new geometries, part consolidation and topology optimization, and what constraints remain.
- Design considerations across multiple domains:
- Product and usage considerations (mechanical loads, thermal, chemical and radiation exposure).
- Geometry considerations (feature resolution, wall thickness, overhangs, internal channels).
- Material property considerations (mechanical, thermal, electrical properties and variability).
- Process‑category considerations - guidance for binder jetting, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, material jetting, powder bed fusion, sheet lamination and vat photopolymerization.
- Sustainability and business considerations (material reuse, life cycle and cost trade-offs).
- Communication considerations (design transfer, documentation and specification).
- Warnings to designers and the need to establish appropriate health & safety practices; the standard highlights identification of issues rather than prescribing solutions.
The document provides requirements, guidelines and recommendations, with normative references for terminology and coordinate/test methodologies but does not include process‑specific data.
Applications
EN ISO/ASTM 52910 is practical for:
- Product designers and engineering managers converting or creating parts for 3D printing / additive manufacturing.
- Students and educators learning mechanical design and CAD for AM.
- Developers of AM design guidelines and design guidance systems, who can use the standard as a framework for toolchains, DfAM (design for additive manufacturing) rulesets and corporate best practices.
Use cases include part consolidation, lightweighting, functional integration, prototyping-to-production transitions, and preparing design intent/specifications for AM suppliers.
Related Standards
- ISO/ASTM 52921 - Standard terminology for additive manufacturing (coordinate systems and test methodologies) - referenced normatively.
- ISO/ASTM 52900 - Vocabulary and AM process category definitions (used throughout the document).
Note: EN ISO/ASTM 52910 provides high‑level, cross‑process design guidance - for process‑ or material‑specific parameters, consult the relevant AM process standards and material data sheets.