The Advantages of AM technology
Industry is taking advantage of additive manufacturing to produce plastic, metal, or composite parts and custom products without the cost, time, tooling, and overhead required in the traditional machining or manufacturing processes. This technology is particularly advantageous in low-to-moderate volume markets (defense and aerospace) that regularly operate without economies of scale. Today Today,, additive additive manufacturi manufacturing ng is reducing reducing the aerospace aerospace industry’ industry’ss important important materials measure, the !uy-to-fly" ratio#pounds of material needed to make one pound of aerospace-quality material#!y more than half. $or e%ample, engineers are taking advantage of additive manufacturing to simultaneously reduce material requirements and easily create engine parts with comple% internal structures. &et ducts in 'oeing $- fighters can !e made with smoothly curving channels that allow more efficient air and fluid flow than those created with the difficult traditional method of !oring through solid structures. *any military applications also often require miniaturi+ed, custom-designed units in relatively small num!ers. dditive manufacturing also supports rapid development and production to meet the military’s military’s speciali+ed functional requirements. $or the automotive industry, additive manufacturing holds great promise. ehicle !odies and engines could !e made using fewer parts and rapidly redesigned to minimi+e failures. The traditional assem!ly line could even !ecome a thing of the past for some
The health healthcar caree indust industry ry is invest investing ing in tailor tailored ed prosth prostheti etics, cs, dental dental implant implants, s, hearing aids, and other types of medical devices and tools. *anufacturers of many consumer products may soon !e using additive techniques in their production processes to em!ed electronic components and circuits in su!strates, reduce device weight and volume, and improve electrical performance.
-/ o!0ects directly from a computer model, depositing material only where required. These new techniques, while still evolving, are pro0ected to e%ert a profound impact on manufacturing. They can give industry new design fle%i!ility, reduce energy use, and shorten time to market. The process is often called -/ printing or digital manufacturing !ecause of similarities to standard desktop printing. Interest in additive techniques has grown swiftly as applications have progressed from rapid prototyping to the production of end-use products. dditive equipment can now use metals, polymers, composites, or other powders to print" a range of functional components, layer !y layer, including comple% structures that cannot !e manufactured !y other means. The a!ility to modify a design online and immediately create the item#without wasteful casting or drilling#makes additive manufacturing an economical way to create single items, small !atches, and, potentially, mass-produced items. The sector-wide ramifications of this capa!ility have captured the imaginations of investors.
The ta!le !elow shows the comparisons of advantages and disadvantages of dditive *anufacturing.
ADVANTAGES 1 $reedom of design 2 * can produce
DISADVANTAGES 6low !uild rates 2 arious inefficiencies
an o!0ect of virtually any shape, even in the process resulting from prototyping those not produci!le today
heritage
1 3omple%ity for free 2 Increasing o!0ect
1 7igh production costs 2 8esulting from
comple%ity will increase production costs slow !uild rate and high cost of metal only marginally
powder
1 4otential elimination of tooling 2 /irect
1
3onsidera!le
effort
required
for
production possi!le without costly and application design and for setting process time-consuming tooling
parameters 2 3omple% set of around 9
1 5ightweight design 2 * ena!les material, process and other parameters
weight
reduction
via
topological 1 *anufacturing process 2 3omponent
optimi+ation (e.g. with $:))
anisotropy, surface finish and dimensional
1 4art consolidation 2 8educing assem!ly accuracy may !e inferior, which requires requirements !y consolidating parts into a post-processing single
component;
even
complete 1 /iscontinuous production process 2
assem!lies with moving parts possi!le
of
nonintegrated
systems
prevents
1 :limination of production steps 2 :ven economies of scale comple% o!0ects will !e manufactured in 1 5imited component si+e 2 6i+e of one process step
produci!le
component
is
limited
!y
cham!er si+e
Additive Manufacturing Market Outlookadditive
The * value chain consists of five steps 2 * system providers are active in most areas of the value chain.
additive
$igure = dditive *anufacturing *arket >utlook
manufacturing market outlook
Revolutionary Seed! Efficiency! Oti"i#ation
dditive manufacturing has the potential to vastly accelerate innovation, compress supply chains, minimi+e materials and energy usage, and reduce waste.
Lower energy intensity: These techniques save energy !y eliminating production steps, using su!stantially less material, ena!ling reuse of !y-products, and producing lighter products. 8emanufacturing parts through advanced additive manufacturing and surface treatment processes can also return end-of-life products to as-new condition, using only ?@?AB of the energy required to make new parts.? ? Less waste: 'uilding o!0ects up layer !y layer, instead of traditional machining processes that cut away material can reduce material needs and costs !y up to C9B. D A Reduced time to market: Items can !e fa!ricated as soon as the -/ digital description of the part has !een created, eliminating the need for e%pensive and time-consuming part tooling and prototype fa!rication. E F Innovation: dditive manufacturing eliminates traditional manufacturing-process design restrictions. It makes it possi!le to create items previously considered too intricate and greatly accelerates final product design. *ulti-functionality can also !e em!edded in printed materials, including varia!le stiffness, conductivity, and more.
The
a!ility
to
improve
performance
and
functionality#literally
customi+ing products to meet individual customer needs#will open new markets and could improve profita!ility.
C
• Agility: dditive techniques ena!le rapid response to markets and create new production options outside of factories, such as mo!ile units that can !e placed
near the source of local materials. 6pare parts can !e produced on demand, reducing or eliminating the need for stockpiles and comple% supply chains.
Lower-cost production: nother !enefit of * over traditional machine tooling is the lower cost of manufacture. The fact that * can make manufacturing cheaper is important in pushing the technology out to !usinesses," said Genny /algarno, 4rofessor of *anufacturing :ngineering at Hewcastle
$rocess
hile some manufacturers have !een using additive manufacturing to make prototypes, improved additive processes are gaining acceptance in some markets. To achieve a wider range of applications, research will need to overcome some key challenges, including the following= Process control: $eed!ack control systems and metrics are needed to improve the precision and relia!ility of the manufacturing process and to increase throughput while maintaining consistent quality. ?
Tolerances: 6ome potential applications would require micron-scale accuracy in printing.
Finish: The surface finishes of products manufactured using additive technology require further refinement. ith improved geometric accuracy, finishes may impart corrosion and wear resistance or unique sets of d esired properties. D
alidation and demonstration: *anufacturers, standards organi+ations, and others maintain high standards for critical structural materials, such as those used in aerospace applications. 4roviding a high level of confidence in the structural integrity of components !uilt with additive technology may require e%tensive testing, demonstration, and data collection.
The full potential of additive manufacturing will !e reali+ed when the technology is integrated into !road manufacturing solutions. In applications where additive manufacturing is competitive, A9B or more energy savings can !e reali+ed. 3ompanies that e%plore the potential of these game-changing techniques and introduce novel products can earn a competitive edge in glo!al markets.
Material
There is a demand for !etter materials to use as feedstock for * and / printing. The development of machines that can process metals !y sintering (creating o!0ects from powders) is helping to open up the processes to industrial users. 7owever, while new metal alloys such as 6calmalloyA address manufacturers’ needs, polymers require greater research and development. 4rofessor 'ill >’Heill, 3am!ridge
Soft%are
Today’s 3/ programs are considered inadequate for designing for *. 3/ is still designed for traditional manufacturing routes such as in0ection molding, and in particular 3/ is most readily applied to things which have lots of circles and straight lines," said ndy Geane, 4rofessor of 3omputational :ngineering and 7ead of eronautics at the
Data "anage"ent
/ata are the language without which * would not function. hile * methods have !een in e%istence for around ?A years, it is data management which is the new aspect of the technology, with the potential to accelerate uptake of *. 7owever, 4rofessor 'ill >’Heill highlighted a data issue which means there currently isn’t enough computer memory to store the data required to produce one-meter cu!ed functional part". 38/* /irector Jraham 'ennett !elieves that rather than advancements in the machines themselves, software developments are what will drive the industry forward".
Sustaina&ility
5ow-volume production offers opportunities for customi+ation and it can reduce materials use due to its efficient geometries, !ut its !enefits are not universal. Lou do not get energy-reducing economies of scale in * like you do in traditional methods of manufacturing such as in0ection molding," said /r 3hris Tuck. 4ouring water on the popular notion that local manufacture is intrinsically more sustaina!le, /r 3hris Tuck said= Jlo!al supply chains in conventional manufacturing are actually very efficient 2so 0ust !ecause we can !ring it local doesn’t mean we should". hile manufacturers are driven !y efficiency goals that lower their car!on footprint, homemakers can !e relied upon to !e wasteful, argued /r 3hris Tuck. The average consumer throws away a huge proportion of the food that they !uy, so why would they !e any different with / printingK" 7e also pointed out the massive issue that materials used in * are often non-recycla!le. 7owever, while/ printers in the home could encourage waste, industry is more driven toward efficiency and * can support this !y supporting single or smallrun printing, and not making more stock than is needed ./r 3hris Tuck offered solutions to *’s environmental issues, including using parallel production to improve efficiencies and speeding up the production process to reduce energy use. 7e also suggested that companies using * undertake holistic analyses that include how you e%tract and generate the raw materials, as well as the relatively tiny manufacturing aspect 7owever, * can support a drive to sustaina!ility through what it ena!les rather than necessarily through its own processes. 'y reducing the weight of structures, it can reduce the energy use in aerospace, delivering significant fuel savings
RE'EREN(ES
. dvanced *anufacturing >ffice, <.6. />:, *aterials= $oundation for the 3lean :nergy $uture," &anuary
?9?.
http=MMenergy.tms.orgMdocsMpdfsM*aterialsN$oundationNforN3leanN:nergyNgeN4r essN$inal.pdf
?. &ohn 6utherland et al., 3omparison of *anufacturing and 8emanufacturing :nergy Intensities with pplication to /iesel :ngine 4roduction," 3I84 nnals# *anufacturing Technology, vol. AF, no. (?99)= A-.
. The :conomist, The 4rinted orld= Three-dimensional printing from digital designs," 9 $e!ruary ?9. www.economist.comMnodeMD??
D. The :conomist, 6olid 4rint= *aking Things with a / 4rinter 3hanges the 8ules of *anufacturing," ? pril ?9?. www.economist.comMnodeM?AA?C?
A. l!erto 4ique et al, 5aser /irect rite of :m!edded :lectronic 3omponents and 3ircuits," 4rinceton
E. T6' dditive *anufacturing 6pecial Interest Jroup (?9?), 6haping our national competency
in
additive
manufacturing,
*aterials
GTH,
www.econolyst.co.ukMresourcesMdocumentsMfilesM8eportB?9
F. /esign !oom (?9), / printing patents e%piring in ?9D will see market erupt, www.design!oom.comMtechnologyMd-printing-patents-e%piringin-?9D-will-seemarket-eruptM
. ohler’s 8eport (?9), dditive *anufacturing and / 4rinting 6tate of the Industry nnual orldwide 4rogress 8eport, ohler’s ssociates, Inc.
