Economics in 3D printing

Introduction

Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, as it is more commonly known, is already been augmented in various industries like automotive, aircraft, medical industry, just to name a few. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) groups them in seven different categories.

As far as Grand View Research is concerned the 3D printing market is divided into three categories: raw materials, application, and region. The 3D printing industry has one of the highest projections for economic growth. McKinsey estimates that 3D printing market could reach $180–490 billion by 2025. The health market industry which includes the medical sector and the dental laboratories has a great impact on the 3D printing market growth.

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology

AM, although it has been around for more than 30 years, is commonly known to the general public as 3D printing. It is based upon the principle of the construction in layers by adding material, differentiating the process from molding, or removing material, for example, in the lathe. It has been already implemented in various sectors (industrial products, consumer products, automotive, aerospace, medicine, etc.).

Synonyms are additive fabrication, additive processes, additive techniques, additive layer manufacturing, layer manufacturing, and freeform fabrication.

AM is the official industry standard term (ASTM F2792 ) for all applications of the technology. It is defined as the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies.

The start of process is a digital file of the item that can be created using a CAD tool, or digitized if already existing (by a scanner or tomography). Having the design of a product is the first step for printing it (making it additively), that can be made anywhere in the world (providing a suitable machine and the raw material). Fig. 6.1 shows the process of building the part from the 3D digital model.

Under the umbrella of AM there are many processes. ASTM groups them in seven types ( Fig. 6.2 ):

• 1)

  Binder jetting —AM process where a liquid bonding agent is deposited to join powdered materials together.

• 2)

  Direct energy deposition (direct manufacturing) —AM process where thermal energy fuses or melts materials together as they are added.

• 3)

  Material extrusion (fused deposition modeling) —AM process that allows for depositing material via a nozzle.

• 4)

  Material jetting —AM process where droplets of material are deposited.

• 5)

  Powder bed fusion (laser sintering) —AM process where thermal energy fuses or melts material from a powder bed.

• 6)

  Sheet welding (e-beam welding, laminated object manufacturing) —AM process where sheets of materials are bonded together.

• 7)

  Vat photo-polymerization (digital light processing) —AM process where liquid photopolymer in vat is cured by light.

In some processes the material is squirted, squeezed, or sprayed and in others fused, bound, or glued. The power source is thermal, high-powered laser beam, electron beam, ultraviolet laser, or photo curing.

The raw materials for the process are polymers, metals, ceramics, composites, and biological materials. The starting materials could be liquid, filament/paste, powder, or solid sheet. Currently, the most common metallic materials are steels (tool steel and stainless), pure titanium and titanium alloys, aluminum casting alloys, nickel-based super alloys, cobalt-chromium alloys, gold, and silver .

It is possible to realize high shape complexity without increasing the production costs (contrary to traditional technology). Freedom of design impacts the weight of the object that can be made lighter. Reduction of weight has an impact on lifecycle cost, material cost, and energy consumption in the production phase.

Additive technology has various advantages and disadvantages. Some of these have been identified by Lindemann et al. (2012) and are listed below.

Advantages:

• More flexible development

• Freedom of design and construction

• Less assembly

• No production tool necessary

• Less spare parts in stock

• Less complexity in business because less parts to manage

• Less time to market for products

• Faster deployment of changes

Disadvantages:

• High machine and material costs

• Quality of parts is in need of improvement

• Rework is often necessary (support structures)

• Building time depends on the height of the part in the building chamber