Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion

Inigo Flores; Niklas Kretzschmar; Abdul Hadi Azman; Sergei Chekurov; David Bue Pedersen; Atanu Chaudhuri

doi:10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947

Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion

Inigo Flores^*
, Niklas Kretzschmar
, Abdul Hadi Azman
, Sergei Chekurov
, David Bue Pedersen
, Atanu Chaudhuri

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

215 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The cost-effectiveness of metal powder bed fusion (PBF) systems in high-throughput production are dominated by the high cost of metallic powder materials. Metal PBF technologies become more competitive in production scenarios when Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is integrated to embed functionality through shape complexity, weight, and material reduction through topology optimization and lattice structures.

This study investigates the value of DfAM in terms of unit cost and manufacturing time reduction. Input design parameters, such as lattice design-type, part size, volume fraction, material type and production volumes are included in a Design-of-Experiment to model their impact. The performance variables for cost and manufacturing time were assessed for two scenarios: (i) outsourcing scenario using an online quotation system, and (ii) in-house scenario utilizing a decision support system (DSS) for metal PBF.

The results indicate that the size of the part and the lattice volume fraction are the most significant parameters that contribute to time and cost savings. This study shows that full utilization of build platforms by volume-optimized parts, high production volumes, and reduction of volume fraction lead to substantial benefits for metal PBF industrialization. Integration of DfAM and lattice designs for lightweight part production can decrease the unit cost of production down to 70.6% and manufacturing time can be reduced significantly down to 71.7% depending on the manufacturing scenarios and design constraints when comparing to solid infill designs. The study also provides a case example of a bracket design whose cost is reduced by 53.7%, manufacturing time is reduced by 54.3 %, and the overall weight is reduced significantly with the use of lattices structures and topology optimization.

Original language	English
Article number	100947
Number of pages	17
Journal	Additive Manufacturing
Volume	31
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2020
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jukka Tuomi, a friend, a person with a genuine heart, a kind soul, and a dreamer ahead of his time. Authors would like to thank for the support of Aalto University's department of mechanical engineering as well as the support and contribution for the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). At the same time, we would like to acknowledge the contribution of Materflow (https://www.materflow.com/) for manufacturing the metal lattice designs displayed in this research. This work has been partially carried out with the financial support of DIVA and Fin3D, both funded by Business Finland. We acknowledge Malaysian Ministry of Education for supporting this research with the project FRGS/1/2018/TK03/UKM/03/1.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Keywords

Additive manufacturing
Design for additive manufacturing
Economics
Productivity
Lattice structures
Topology optimization
CELLULAR METAL
COST ESTIMATION
SPARE PARTS
DESIGN
MANUFACTURERS
PERFORMANCE
COMPONENTS
INDUSTRY

Access to Document

10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S2214860419308292-mainFinal published version, 8.89 MBLicence: CC BY

DIVA: Digitaaliset varaosat
Partanen, J. (Principal investigator), Akmal, J. (Project Member), Björkstrand, R. (Project Member), Wang, M. (Project Member), Vuorela, P. (Project Member), Chekurov, S. (Project Member), Huotilainen, E. (Project Member), Salmi, M. (Project Member), Kretzschmar, N. (Project Member) & Peltonen, M. (Project Member)
01/01/2016 → 31/12/2017
Project: Business Finland: Other research funding

Cite this

@article{73a84ea81bbc4a01988464fc25066cd6,

title = "Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion",

abstract = "The cost-effectiveness of metal powder bed fusion (PBF) systems in high-throughput production are dominated by the high cost of metallic powder materials. Metal PBF technologies become more competitive in production scenarios when Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is integrated to embed functionality through shape complexity, weight, and material reduction through topology optimization and lattice structures.This study investigates the value of DfAM in terms of unit cost and manufacturing time reduction. Input design parameters, such as lattice design-type, part size, volume fraction, material type and production volumes are included in a Design-of-Experiment to model their impact. The performance variables for cost and manufacturing time were assessed for two scenarios: (i) outsourcing scenario using an online quotation system, and (ii) in-house scenario utilizing a decision support system (DSS) for metal PBF.The results indicate that the size of the part and the lattice volume fraction are the most significant parameters that contribute to time and cost savings. This study shows that full utilization of build platforms by volume-optimized parts, high production volumes, and reduction of volume fraction lead to substantial benefits for metal PBF industrialization. Integration of DfAM and lattice designs for lightweight part production can decrease the unit cost of production down to 70.6\% and manufacturing time can be reduced significantly down to 71.7\% depending on the manufacturing scenarios and design constraints when comparing to solid infill designs. The study also provides a case example of a bracket design whose cost is reduced by 53.7\%, manufacturing time is reduced by 54.3 \%, and the overall weight is reduced significantly with the use of lattices structures and topology optimization.",

keywords = "Additive manufacturing, Design for additive manufacturing, Economics, Productivity, Lattice structures, Topology optimization, CELLULAR METAL, COST ESTIMATION, SPARE PARTS, DESIGN, MANUFACTURERS, PERFORMANCE, COMPONENTS, INDUSTRY",

author = "Inigo Flores and Niklas Kretzschmar and Azman, \{Abdul Hadi\} and Sergei Chekurov and Pedersen, \{David Bue\} and Atanu Chaudhuri",

year = "2020",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947",

language = "English",

volume = "31",

journal = "Additive Manufacturing",

issn = "2214-8604",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion

AU - Flores, Inigo

AU - Kretzschmar, Niklas

AU - Azman, Abdul Hadi

AU - Chekurov, Sergei

AU - Pedersen, David Bue

AU - Chaudhuri, Atanu

PY - 2020/1/1

Y1 - 2020/1/1

N2 - The cost-effectiveness of metal powder bed fusion (PBF) systems in high-throughput production are dominated by the high cost of metallic powder materials. Metal PBF technologies become more competitive in production scenarios when Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is integrated to embed functionality through shape complexity, weight, and material reduction through topology optimization and lattice structures.This study investigates the value of DfAM in terms of unit cost and manufacturing time reduction. Input design parameters, such as lattice design-type, part size, volume fraction, material type and production volumes are included in a Design-of-Experiment to model their impact. The performance variables for cost and manufacturing time were assessed for two scenarios: (i) outsourcing scenario using an online quotation system, and (ii) in-house scenario utilizing a decision support system (DSS) for metal PBF.The results indicate that the size of the part and the lattice volume fraction are the most significant parameters that contribute to time and cost savings. This study shows that full utilization of build platforms by volume-optimized parts, high production volumes, and reduction of volume fraction lead to substantial benefits for metal PBF industrialization. Integration of DfAM and lattice designs for lightweight part production can decrease the unit cost of production down to 70.6% and manufacturing time can be reduced significantly down to 71.7% depending on the manufacturing scenarios and design constraints when comparing to solid infill designs. The study also provides a case example of a bracket design whose cost is reduced by 53.7%, manufacturing time is reduced by 54.3 %, and the overall weight is reduced significantly with the use of lattices structures and topology optimization.

AB - The cost-effectiveness of metal powder bed fusion (PBF) systems in high-throughput production are dominated by the high cost of metallic powder materials. Metal PBF technologies become more competitive in production scenarios when Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is integrated to embed functionality through shape complexity, weight, and material reduction through topology optimization and lattice structures.This study investigates the value of DfAM in terms of unit cost and manufacturing time reduction. Input design parameters, such as lattice design-type, part size, volume fraction, material type and production volumes are included in a Design-of-Experiment to model their impact. The performance variables for cost and manufacturing time were assessed for two scenarios: (i) outsourcing scenario using an online quotation system, and (ii) in-house scenario utilizing a decision support system (DSS) for metal PBF.The results indicate that the size of the part and the lattice volume fraction are the most significant parameters that contribute to time and cost savings. This study shows that full utilization of build platforms by volume-optimized parts, high production volumes, and reduction of volume fraction lead to substantial benefits for metal PBF industrialization. Integration of DfAM and lattice designs for lightweight part production can decrease the unit cost of production down to 70.6% and manufacturing time can be reduced significantly down to 71.7% depending on the manufacturing scenarios and design constraints when comparing to solid infill designs. The study also provides a case example of a bracket design whose cost is reduced by 53.7%, manufacturing time is reduced by 54.3 %, and the overall weight is reduced significantly with the use of lattices structures and topology optimization.

KW - Additive manufacturing

KW - Design for additive manufacturing

KW - Economics

KW - Productivity

KW - Lattice structures

KW - Topology optimization

KW - CELLULAR METAL

KW - COST ESTIMATION

KW - SPARE PARTS

KW - DESIGN

KW - MANUFACTURERS

KW - PERFORMANCE

KW - COMPONENTS

KW - INDUSTRY

U2 - 10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947

DO - 10.1016/j.addma.2019.100947

M3 - Article

SN - 2214-8604

VL - 31

JO - Additive Manufacturing

JF - Additive Manufacturing

M1 - 100947

ER -

Implications of lattice structures on economics and productivity of metal powder bed fusion

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

DIVA: Digitaaliset varaosat

Cite this