Additive Manufacturing Testing and Certification Market (2026-2036)

The growth of this market is mainly driven by the transition of additive manufacturing from prototyping to serial production of safety-critical parts, the expansion of regulatory guidance and industry certification programs for printed parts and AM suppliers, rising defense investment in qualifying additive manufacturing suppliers and spare parts, and growing adoption of metal 3D printing in aerospace, medical, and energy applications. In addition, the adoption of industrial computed tomography (CT), in-situ process monitoring, and digital quality data systems is further supporting the growth of this market.

The Additive Manufacturing Testing and Certification Market, also referred to as the 3D printing testing, AM inspection, or AM qualification and certification market, comprises the services, equipment, and software used to verify the quality of additively manufactured materials, processes, parts, facilities, and personnel. The market includes destructive testing such as tensile, fatigue, and hardness testing, metallography, and chemical analysis; non-destructive testing (NDT) such as industrial X-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasonic, radiographic, penetrant, and eddy current testing, and 3D scanning; powder and feedstock characterization; in-situ process monitoring; and certification and qualification of facilities, processes, parts, materials, and personnel against industry, regulatory, and customer standards. The market ecosystem extends from testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) companies, standards bodies, and classification societies to inspection equipment manufacturers, quality software providers, AM machine manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and OEMs in aerospace, defense, space, medical, automotive, and energy sectors.

The market is growing because additive manufacturing is moving from prototypes to serial production of flight-critical, implantable, and pressure-bearing parts, and each production part requires documented evidence of quality. Unlike conventionally manufactured parts, printed parts can contain internal porosity, lack-of-fusion defects, residual stress, and surface features that vary with machine, powder, and process parameters. As a result, qualification of a new printed part typically requires extensive coupon testing, part-level testing, and non-destructive inspection, and production requires ongoing process monitoring and lot testing. This makes testing and certification a recurring cost of every additive manufacturing program, rather than a one-time activity.

Investment in additive manufacturing is increasing the volume of parts that must be tested. GE Aerospace announced in March 2025 that it would invest more than USD 100 million in 2025 in next-generation materials including additive manufacturing, including USD 51 million to expand 3D printing capacity in Auburn, Alabama, and USD 14 million in West Chester, Ohio. Powder producers are also expanding rapidly, with 6K Additive increasing capacity from 200 metric tons to 1,000 metric tons per year by the fourth quarter of 2026. Each increase in printing and powder capacity creates demand for powder testing, part inspection, and process qualification.

Defense programs have become a major source of demand. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military expenditure reached a record USD 2,887 billion in 2025, an increase of 2.9% in real terms, with spending in Europe rising 14% to USD 864 billion and spending across Asia and Oceania rising 8.1% to USD 681 billion. The U.S. Department of War is funding the qualification of additive manufacturing suppliers to strengthen its industrial base. In March 2026, America Makes launched two project calls worth more than USD 35 million funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Office, including the 2026 Organic Industrial Base Modernization Challenge, which lists in-situ quality checks among its topics, and JAQS-SQ, which funds standardized training, audits, and onboarding of laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition suppliers. In July 2026, 25 teams were selected for USD 10.5 million of JAQS-SQ funding.

At the same time, standards and certification frameworks are maturing. EASA issued Issue 04 of its Certification Memorandum CM-S-008 on additive manufacturing in September 2025, covering metallic and non-metallic AM parts across aircraft, engine, and propeller certification specifications. ASTM International launched an AM certification program in June 2025 through its Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, with more than 25 end users including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Safran, and General Motors, to reduce redundant supplier audits. Classification society DNV awarded its highest AM certification level, AMC3, to MX3D for wire arc additive manufacturing, reported in September 2026. These frameworks are creating demand for certification services and for testing that generates the evidence required by auditors.

Inspection technology is also advancing rapidly. Industrial CT is becoming faster and easier to use, with Lumafield raising USD 75 million in March 2025 and reporting that 85% of its customers are using CT for the first time. In-situ monitoring systems that capture melt pool, layer, and thermal data during printing are being developed to reduce reliance on post-build inspection. Together, these developments are expanding the market from traditional laboratory testing toward integrated quality systems that combine sensors, inspection equipment, and data analytics.

Supply chain changes are also increasing testing requirements. New powder producers are entering the market with government support, including 6K Additive, which received a USD 23.4 million Defense Production Act grant, and IperionX, which holds a USD 99 million U.S. Army contract for titanium powder-to-part manufacturing. Each new supplier, alloy, and production line must be qualified before its materials can be used in critical parts, and OEMs must verify that parts produced by different suppliers meet the same requirements. This growing and more diverse supply base is increasing the volume of qualification testing and supplier certification across the industry.

The cost of testing and certification is significant relative to the cost of printing, particularly for low-volume, high-criticality parts. For many aerospace and defense parts, qualification testing, inspection, and documentation can account for a large share of total program costs, which is why OEMs, regulators, and government programs are investing in more efficient approaches such as shared certification schemes, in-situ monitoring, and fast CT. These efforts are expected to expand the market by enabling more parts to be qualified, even as the cost per part qualification declines.

Medical and energy regulators add further requirements. Medical device manufacturers must validate printed implants for biocompatibility, porosity, and fatigue under medical device regulations, and energy and maritime users must meet classification society rules, such as DNV standards for the qualification of AM parts. The range of applicable requirements across industries means that testing and certification providers with broad accreditation and multi-industry expertise are well positioned to capture demand as additive manufacturing spreads into new sectors.