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Additive Manufacturing and Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, involves building a three-dimensional object by laying down successive layers of material under computer control. Unlike conventional manufacturing that removes material, AM adds layers in an additive process directly from a 3D computer-aided design without the need for process planning. As the layer thickness decreases, the quality of the final product increases. There are many benefits to AM, such as a faster product development process, the ability to produce complex geometries that would be difficult with conventional methods, and a more flexible and streamlined production process.

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128 views

Additive Manufacturing and Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, involves building a three-dimensional object by laying down successive layers of material under computer control. Unlike conventional manufacturing that removes material, AM adds layers in an additive process directly from a 3D computer-aided design without the need for process planning. As the layer thickness decreases, the quality of the final product increases. There are many benefits to AM, such as a faster product development process, the ability to produce complex geometries that would be difficult with conventional methods, and a more flexible and streamlined production process.

Uploaded by

Przemysław Baras
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1.

Additive Manufacturing
Conventional manufacturing methods, like turning and milling, involve the removal or
subtraction of material in a workpiece in order to obtain the desired design of the final product,
which is the pole opposite of additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM), formally
referred as rapid prototyping and commonly named 3D Printing, involves the addition and
combination of thousands of layers of a material in order to obtain the desired product. The
general concept of AM is that a model is directly manufactured from a 3D Computer-Aided
Design (CAD) without the need for process planning. However, in reality, this is not entirely true
but additive manufacturing simplifies greatly the process of fabricating complex geometries from
CAD data. Since AM fabricates parts by adding layers, then each layer should have a finite
thickness. As the thickness of the layer decreases, the quality of the finished product increases.

There are many benefits for additive manufacturing which changes the way of designing
products and building new businesses. First, the full product development process time is
considered to be “rapid” using AM since it relies on the usage of computers. Moreover, since 3D
CAD is considered to be the starting point in additive manufacturing, then it follows the rule
“What You See Is What You Build”. Unlike conventional manufacturing processes that require
multiple repeating steps to be executed, additive manufacturing is usually performed in a single
stage regardless of the complexity of the design. Nevertheless, the process of AM in workshops
is considered to be more flexible, cleaner and more streamlined.

There is a difference between additive manufacturing and CNC machining which are both
computer-based technologies. The latter involves the removal of material; thus, it is a subtractive
process. CNC machining usually removes material faster than additive manufacturing
technologies, but it requires significant process planning especially as parts become more
complex. Therefore, AM technologies are considered to be faster than CNC machining in terms
of whole product development process. In case of incorrect programming, it could result in
critical damages to the CNC machine itself and may threaten the human safety, but in additive
manufacturing, the worst thing that is likely to happen is that the product would not be fabricated
very well. Furthermore, it can be difficult to manufacture geometries that have sharp internal
features and deep cavities using CNC machining unlike 3D printing. In terms of material, CNC
machining is used for hard brittle materials like steels to have high accuracy and well-defined
properties, and it can be used to shape parts made of softer materials like medium-density
fiberboard to employ in casting processes. For additive manufacturing, the materials initially
used were paper laminates, waxes and polymeric materials, but it evolved to the use of
composites, ceramics and metals.

Reference: book Additive Manufacturing technologies, 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping, and


Direct Digital Manufacturing, 2nd Edition, Ian Gibson, David Rosen, Brent Stucker, published by
Springer, pages 1-13

Metal additive manufacturing or metal 3D printing is used widely in the recent years. It
originated by combining 3D printing with the field of studies; metallurgy and laser and weld
cladding. Thus, different processes of metal 3D printing are developed, such as selective laser
melting, electron beam melting, laser metal deposition, metal powder application, bound metal
deposition and atomic diffusion additive manufacturing, which will be explained later. However,
the form of the material used in metal 3D printing is considered to be essential. In subtractive
manufacturing (conventional), commercial shapes like plates, pipes and beam are used. Wires
and electrodes are widely used in welding and may be also used in metal additive manufacturing.
Recycled metal stemming from “recovery metal” and “scrap metal” are also used in different
manufacturing techniques. However, metal powder are most commonly used in metal 3D
printing. The powders used are spherical in shape and have a size ranging from 10 to 105
microns which makes it easier to spread fine layers of powders evenly on powder bed machines
and to supply an inert gas fed stream of powder smoothly without nozzle clogging using powder
feed systems. The knowledge of powder size, shape and purity are essential for effectivity of the
metal additive manufacturing processes.

2. Applications of metal 3d printing technologies


In the recent years, metal 3D printing has proved itself to be a disruptive technology that
revolutionized the industry because of its many application in medicine, aerospace, automotive
and more. In dentistry, custom-fit dental implants, dental crowns and bridges are produced using
metal additive manufacturing. Another application is metal medical implants like titanium
cranial implant which can be used to seal broken skulls. In aerospace, full-scale rocket engine
parts are additively manufactured like rocket nozzle made of copper which can operate at
extreme pressures and temperatures. Also, an aircraft bracket made of titanium can be
manufactured direct metal laser sintering which resulted in reduction of scraps and lightweight
which influence energy consumption and decrease of CO2 emissions. Nonetheless, in automotive,
race car design teams are conveniently using metal 3D printing for the design freedom and rapid
prototyping in order to obtain a competitive lead in the industry. Some of the parts fabricated
using metal additive manufacturing that improved automotive performances are steering knuckle
and piston.

Reference: book Additive Manufacturing of Metals, From Fundamental Technology to Rocket


Nozzles, Medical Implants and Custom Jewelry, John O. Milewski, published by Springer, pages
13-21, 69-82, 119-128

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