It’s not troublesome to find out about how AM applied sciences are being utilized by producers to turn out to be extra sustainable. Extra environment friendly designs, on-demand manufacturing and discount in materials waste are all ecological benefits the know-how has over extra conventional manufacturing processes. Nevertheless, after we zoom in on AM, it’s additionally vital to consider how additive processes and workflows can themselves be maximized in relation to sustainability.
In line with Belgian 3D printing firm Materialise, the precise digital thread answer for AM is important to unlocking larger sustainability for AM customers. As we’ll see in larger depth, integrating information throughout each step of the additive manufacturing course of can drive effectivity in additional methods than one, together with lowering waste, enhancing power effectivity, designing extra sustainable elements and enabling steady enhancements.
Controlling waste
Among the many key promoting factors of additive manufacturing is the flexibility to economically produce elements on demand or in small volumes. In itself this functionality has ecological advantages, since on-demand manufacturing permits producers to dramatically scale back the necessity for extra stock and storage. This additionally has the knock-on impact of minimizing emissions related to transporting mass volumes of inventory in addition to minimizing packaging necessities.
Within the eyewear business, for instance, an increasing number of manufacturers are turning to 3D printing to pursue a extra sustainable enterprise mannequin. A part of the broader style business, which accounts for roughly 10% of world emissions, the eyewear business has lengthy been confronted with challenges related to the quick style mannequin. For one, with quick-changing developments, it’s troublesome for the business to maintain up with client demand. For an additional, there are dangers with bringing new designs to market as a result of time and assets invested. In different phrases, eyewear manufacturers are prone to over producing models, resulting in wasted supplies and general losses.
With 3D printing, up-and-coming eyewear manufacturers are seeing a brand new means ahead. For instance, Odette Lunettes, a Belgian model identified for its distinctive frames, has been leveraging 3D printing to each speed up the time-to-market for brand spanking new designs to maintain up with altering developments and reduce on wasted supplies and assets via a made-to-order mannequin.
The model’s assortment, Odette Lunettes X Tom Boonen, demonstrates this new extra sustainable dynamic completely. The frames, 3D printed from bio-based Ultrasint PA11, are personalized to the wearer and made on-demand to lower the chance of over-production. The model has labored with Materialise to deliver this answer to life, a journey that took solely two months to develop and launch, largely because of the capabilities of AM and an optimized digital design course of.
“Sustainability must be in each facet of your model,” Eline De Munck, Founding father of Odette Lunettes. “With 3D printing and PA11 collectively, we’re actually in a position to ship on that dedication and produce frames which might be each trendy and sustainable.”
Better manufacturing effectivity
Digital software program instruments additionally play a vital function in making certain that AM-based manufacturing processes are environment friendly and dependable. As a result of let’s be frank: there may be nothing sustainable about an inconsistent 3D printing course of that’s riddled with errors and produces flaw-filled elements. As Materialise sums it up: “Regardless of which know-how you employ, it’s doable to reduce how a lot materials you employ and the quantity of power your machines eat via software program automation instruments.”
Extra particularly, digital thread instruments like Magics Nester allows SLS customers to nest extra elements in a single construct with out compromising print high quality, thus maximizing materials and course of effectivity, whereas e-Stage has a pair sustainable advantages, together with much less resin consumption via minimized helps and extra environment friendly information preparation and ending.
Korean 3D printing service supplier GLUCK, which specializes within the manufacturing of humanoid robots, has discovered Materialise software program to be important to its manufacturing course of. The Magics 3D printing suite is answerable for simplifying the processing of knowledge throughout the AM workflow, whereas the e-Stage for Resin module has enabled GLUCK to routinely generate help buildings which might be optimized for minimal materials utilization, elimination and, in fact, half help.
As the corporate ramps up its manufacturing with the addition of fifty extra SLA 3D printers and goals to realize on-demand mass manufacturing companies, Materialise software program, together with administration and high quality assurance instruments, will proceed to help the scaling and maintain their enterprise working easily, with diminished print failures and thus much less power, time and materials waste. “We had 3,000 clients final 12 months, and it was difficult to handle them effectively,” mentioned GLUCK. “Utilizing Materialise software program options, we managed a high-quality, steady and dependable manufacturing workflow.”
Sustainable design
Design freedom is clearly a vital issue when speaking in regards to the sustainable potential of additive manufacturing, and maximizing the ecological advantages of extra environment friendly designs requires an in-depth information of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). In lots of industries, like aerospace, the aim is to cut back half weight, which contributes to larger gasoline effectivity. In others, AM design is paving the best way for extra ecological options altogether.
At CMB.TECH, for instance, the aim is to decarbonize delivery, and it has been engaged on creating a hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel combustion know-how that converts diesel combustion engines into dual-fuel engines. A vital part on this system is a 3D printed aluminum injection ring, which aspirates hydrogen into the combustion chamber. This half, 3D printed utilizing SLM know-how, weighs solely 654 grams and is 25% cheaper to fabricate than utilizing casting. That’s to not point out its complicated design can be inconceivable to realize utilizing something however AM. From a sustainable perspective, the part contributes to an as much as 80% discount in CO2 emissions in conventional diesel engines in vans. In prototyping, evaluating the designs, and manufacturing the ultimate elements used to transform a fleet of vans, CMB.TECH labored carefully with Materialise manufacturing specialists and its skilled Onsite service..
From a digital thread perspective, Materialise’s workflow software program, together with its CO-AM administration answer, allows producers to transition seamlessly from the design stage into full-scale manufacturing, to facilitate bringing extra sustainable elements to fruition. This digital thread answer will also be built-in inside present manufacturing infrastructures.
Steady suggestions for ongoing progress
With a digital thread structure in place, and with all steps within the product life cycle linked, there may be plenty of information to leverage. As an example, it may present important insights into the place your processes are working properly and the place there are nonetheless inefficiencies and issues to unravel. Put one other means, this information can be utilized as a type of steady suggestions, which allows producers to maintain enhancing processes to satisfy vital objectives like sustainability targets.
“This information is especially impactful when creating new supplies and processes, one thing we’re equally dedicated to right here at Materialise,” the corporate says “We use options like CO-AM and High quality & Course of Management inside our personal group to centralize construct, course of and high quality information. By doing the identical, you may establish high quality gaps, anomalies, and defects inside your course of. Flip that information into actionable insights, and also you’re heading in the right direction.”
In the end, having a data-driven understanding of your manufacturing processes is essential to unlocking larger sustainability in the long run in all of the aforementioned methods, and can allow additive manufacturing customers to really maximize the inherent ecological advantages of the know-how, like minimal materials waste, environment friendly design and on-demand manufacturing.
If you’re on the lookout for help in constructing a powerful digital thread to your AM manufacturing workflow, Materialise additionally provides help. “We’re right here that can assist you do it,” the corporate concludes. “From discovering the precise AM software program to your group to figuring out the purposes that finest help your sustainability objectives or scaling as much as collection manufacturing, you may depend on our specialists.”
This text was initially printed in VoxelMatters’ VM Focus Sustainability AM eBook. Learn or obtain the complete eBook free of charge at this hyperlink.
