Korean Register certifies first homegrown 3D-printing repair process

It cuts repair time and cost.

Korean Register (KR) has awarded a manufacturing process certificate to AM Solutions for its laser wire directed energy deposition (LW-DED)-based additive manufacturing repair technology.

In a press release, KR said this marks the first time it verified the safety and reliability of a 3D-printing-based repair process in Korea.

The certification extends additive manufacturing's application beyond producing new components into maintenance and repair of damaged metal structures.

Additive manufacturing has drawn interest across aerospace, shipbuilding, offshore and defence sectors for its ability to rapidly produce complex parts.

However, industrial adoption has been constrained by the absence of certification frameworks, high implementation costs and limited demand.

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) addressed part of this gap last year with Recommendation No. 186, "Additively Manufactured Metallic Parts for Marine and Offshore Applications," enabling safe use of the technology in the marine and offshore sector.

KR has since revised its additive manufacturing guidelines and built a certification framework covering materials, processes, products and manufacturing methods — including, critically, the repair of existing metal structures.

The certified LW-DED process melts metal wire with a laser and deposits it layer by layer onto damaged areas, restoring only the affected section instead of replacing or remanufacturing the entire part.

This cuts repair time and cost, and could extend the service life of discontinued or hard-to-source components.