Using Additive Manufacturing to Detect Counterfeit Parts

Texas A&M University researchers have developed a method of imprinting a hidden magnetic tag, encoded with authentication information, within hardware during the parts fabrication process through additive manufacturing.

According to the researchers, the process holds the potential to expose counterfeit goods more easily by replacing physical tags such as barcodes or quick response (QR) codes with these hidden magnetic tags, which serve as permanent and unique identifiers.

The project, titled ‘Embedded Information in Additively Manufactured Metals via Composition Gradients for Anti-Counterfeiting and Supply Chain Traceability,’ is a faculty partner project supported by the SecureAmerica Institute. It includes researchers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the J Mike Walker ‘66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M.

Ensuring security and reliable authentication in manufacturing is a critical national concern, with the US investing billions of dollars in manufacturing. Without such a method readily available, it can be nearly impossible to differentiate an authentic part or component from its counterfeit copy.

The team is implementing metal additive manufacturing techniques to accomplish its goal of embedding readable magnetic tags into metal parts without compromising on performance or longevity. It used 3D printing to embed these magnetic tags below the surface into non-magnetic steel hardware.

Other applications for this method include traceability, quality control and more, largely depending on the industry in which it is used.

Once embedded into a non-magnetic item, the magnetic tag is readable using a magnetic sensor device – such as a smartphone – by scanning near the correct location on the product, allowing the designated information to be accessed by the user.

While other methods exist for imprinting information, they primarily require sophisticated and costly equipment that introduces a barrier to real-world implementation.

‘Different approaches have been used to try to locally change the properties of the metals during the manufacturing process to be able to codify information within the part,’ said the team. ‘This is the first time that magnetic properties of the material are being used in this way to introduce information within a non-magnetic part, specifically for the 3D printing of metals.’ To map the magnetic reading of the part, the team created a custom three-axis magnetic sensor capable of mapping the surface and revealing the regions where the embedded magnetic tag was accessible.

While the system is more secure than a physical tag or code located on the exterior of an item, the team is still working to improve the complexity of the method’s security.

As the project continues, Dr Ibrahim Karaman, Chevron Professor I and department head of the materials science and engineering department, said that the next steps include developing a more secure method of reading the information, possibly through the implementation of physical ‘dual-authentication’ requiring the user to apply a specific treatment or stimulus to unlock access to the magnetic tag.