This article has been compiled by Ranjeet Yadav a first year Law student of Lloyd Law College Greater Noida Uttar Pradesh.
Abstract-
Design flexibility, product customization, waste reduction, and the capability to construct complex components, and efficient prototyping, are all advantages of 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM). Because the area is continually expanding, it is necessary to conduct periodic assessments of one’s perceptive of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes and their progression. Additive manufacturing (AM) has enormous promise for a wider application, particularly in medical, aerospace, and automotive industries. To meet this demand, this article provides a thorough assessment of the evolution of materials in Additive Manufacturing (AM) and the issues connected with them. The innovatory uses of Additive Manufacturing in aircraft, biomedical, defensive constructions and buildings were particularly emphasised. It starts with an introduction to several Additive Manufacturing methods, then highlights the trajectory of their advancement. Material demands, significant developments in recently discovered materials, and prospective applications are all examined in depth and summarised. Finally, this review concluded by outlining the primary problems currently experienced in the use of Additive Manufacturing materials and offering insights into the important potential and disadvantages it offers, like standard for upcoming research and innovation. Although additive manufacturing and technological dominance are being established with crucial industries, their sustainability advantages are visible in the current manufacturing scenario. The main goal is to identify the environmental benefits of additive manufacturing technologies over conventional manufacturing. Industries can now decide on suitable technologies to meet environmental goals.
Introduction – Today, loads of energy are needed for contemporary manufacturing, producing massive waste & emissions. The need is to bring down this emission level and reverse the process of climate change. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies comprise 3D printing, 3D scanning, and associated customised and standalone software. In several respects, additive manufacturing is considerably more sustainable than conventional manufacturing methods and more reasonable for the atmosphere and the earth. Therefore, the industry is learning to adapt to AM technologies to produce varied products through research and development. Thus, to maximise our collective environmental impact internationally, AM-based industries are well placed to advance sustainability. The principles of sustainability are used to minimise, reuse and recycle.
There is a need to work with industry around the value chain and move from wishful thinking to impactful outcomes. It will help build sustainable strategies and goals. Industrial management needs to consider multiple stakeholders, employees, clients, vendors, suppliers, societies, government, non-profit organisations, certification boards, educational institutions, and other constituents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many medical Supply chain shortages and logistical challenges were well taken up by these technologies. It provided hospitals and health care facilities locally and globally with vital PPE such as customised face shields, test swabs, and medical equipment components. By using AM, the industry took advantage of solving the coronavirus’s problems to make a difference, save lives, and provide sustainability to save our world.
It is possible to integrate many components into a one-part item of generative architecture. This integration will also simplify the entire production process by eliminating downstream assembly and reduce the material quantity. In comparison, consolidation of parts ensures that manufacturing supplies and the supply chain are fewer storage elements. The choice of products influences the sustainability of the industries directly. Designers can explore different materials through generative designs, determining what might work better for material and design. It also simplifies the design and engineering process using cloud simulation to evaluate fatigue, measure stress, etc. It eliminates the need for iterative physical prototyping that saves time, waste, and resources. In comparison, these economies are typically viewed as environmentally sustainable.
AM represented that generative design in a project brings the smartest individual to space’s design team. Considering the size and obligation of the challenges in tackling biodiversity and climate change, the applications of AM in explored in manufacturing industries. Given the growing importance of ecological concerns and environmental regulations’ popularity, sustainable growth continues with environmentally friendly production. Ecological efficiency is a cornerstone of sustainability, and any reduction in enormous amounts of energy and materials used may lead to a reduction in global warming. 3D printers help to manufacture personalised products automatically, which are perfectly suitable for the required application. These products provide more incredible environmental performance and higher standards.
AM technology connects one layer to another, another layer, and so on. It starts from digital files, such as CAD files or 3D scanning output of an existing object. It produces physical objects using the input of materials in the form of wire, powder, etc. It provides exciting encouragement and shares high expectations. This technology provides advanced fast prototypes, which can melt and print metals and food. However, in recent years, this innovative technology is affordable for domestic use with raw material input. Technology, like FDM, is used to print acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polylactic, which can manufacture low-cost objects. It expands the longevity of goods beyond the manufacturer’s limits. 3D prints help remove the factor that affects the outdating of productions.
What is 3D printing and what is additive manufacturing?
3D printing or additive manufacturing enables you to produce geometrically complex objects, shapes and textures. It often uses less material than traditional manufacturing methods and allows the production of items that were simply not possible to produce economically with traditional manufacturing.
The two principal traditional methods of manufacturing are:
Subtractive Manufacturing (SM) is the controlled removal of material, like milling, for example. Formative Manufacturing (FM) takes a material, usually a plastic, and reshapes it to create a final product. Compare these to 3D printing or additive manufacturing, which involves adding material in layers to create the final product.
What is additive manufacturing?
Though it has been around for decades, additive manufacturing is still a relatively new technology compared to traditional manufacturing. In this guide, we hope to answer some of the most fundamental questions about 3D printing and additive manufacturing and give you all the information you need to begin harnessing the power of this exceptional technology.
The growth of the 3D printing market
What began as a niche and futuristic technology has today become widely used and even ubiquitous. Today, the use of 3D printing has grown to the point where almost all major manufacturers are incorporating or seeking to incorporate it into their design or manufacturing processes.
It was once used primarily for prototyping or for one-off manufacturing single, customized or spare parts. But today, it is used as an efficient, versatile, and reliable production technology for many large-scale industrial manufacturers.
And the 3D printing market is continuing to grow at speed. In fact, Wohlers Associates expects it to be worth $46.8 billion by 2026. (Source: Wohler’s Report 2021).
As it continues to develop, 3D printing technology will transform almost every major industry and fundamentally change the way we live, work, design and manufacture.
How has 3D printing technology developed?
Much of the growth in the 3D printing industry comes from the rapid growth of 3D printing in manufacturing, which was thought impossible when the process was first developed.
Today, new 3D printing materials, processes, and companies are appearing and developing constantly – you’ll hear about a myriad 3D printing technologies – Select Laser Sintering or SLS, Material Jetting, Binder Jetting, HP Multi Jet Fusion, to name just a few – and this coupled with continuous progress in the industry can make it hard for individuals and companies to keep up and to ensure that they’re making the most of this fast-developing technology. But keeping up is becoming increasingly important. As 3D printing delivers a mixture of better performance, more complex geometries, and more efficient production, it creates an exceptional opportunity for those able to use it to its potential and will result in those that don’t, quickly being left behind.
What are the benefits of 3D printing?
Almost every industry is being disrupted by the switch from Analog to digital processes, and manufacturing is no different. 3D printing and additive manufacturing are helping to bring opportunity, flexibility, and efficiency to manufacturing operations.
Whether being used for building functional rapid prototypes, for small/medium series production, or for large-scale series production, 3D printing offers considerable advantages over traditional manufacturing. For a start, product prototyping and development can be made significantly faster, product customization and functional integration can be achieved more quickly, and overall costs can be reduced, especially for tooling in the early stages of the product lifecycle. And design and production improvements inevitably benefit the wider business. 3D printing can offer large-scale manufacturers from a wide range of industries the chance to differentiate themselves from their competitors with improved customer offerings, cost savings, and increased sustainability through on-demand production and virtual inventories.
What are the pros of 3D Printing?
This production process offers a range of advantages compared to traditional manufacturing methods. These advantages include those related to designs, time and cost, amongst others.
- Flexible Design
3D Printing allows for the design and print of more complex designs than traditional manufacturing processes. More traditional processes have design restrictions which no longer apply with the use of 3D Printing.
- Rapid Prototyping
3D printing can manufacture parts within hours, which speeds up the prototyping process. This allows for each stage to complete faster. When compared to machining prototypes, 3D printing is inexpensive and quicker at creating parts as the part can be finished in hours, allowing for each design modification to be completed at a much more efficient rate.
- Print on Demand
Print on demand is another advantage as it doesn’t need a lot of space to stock inventory, unlike traditional manufacturing processes. This saves space and costs as there is no need to print in bulk unless required.
What are the Cons of 3D Printing?
Like with almost any other process there are also drawbacks of 3D printing technology which should be considered before opting to use this process.
- Limited Materials
While 3D Printing can create items in a selection of plastics and metals the available selection of raw materials is not exhaustive. This is due to the fact that not all metals or plastics can be temperature controlled enough to allow 3D printing. In addition, many of these printable materials cannot be recycled and very few are food safe.
- Restricted Build Size
3D printers currently have small print chambers which restrict the size of parts that can be printed. Anything bigger will need to be printed in separate parts and joined together after production. This can increase costs and time for larger parts due to the printer needing to print more parts before manual labour is used to join the parts together.
- Post Processing
Although large parts require post-processing, as mentioned above, most 3D printed parts need some form of cleaning up to remove support material from the build and to smooth the surface to achieve the required finish. Post processing methods used include water jetting, sanding, a chemical soak and rinse, air or heat drying, assembly and others. The amount of post processing required depends on factors including the size of the part being produced, the intended application and the type of 3D printing technology used for production. So, while 3D printing allows for the fast production of parts, the speed of manufacture can be slowed by post processing.
- Large Volumes
3D printing is a static cost unlike more conventional techniques like injection moulding, where large volumes may be more cost effective to produce. While the initial investment for 3D printing may be lower than other manufacturing methods, once scaled up to produce large volumes for mass production, the cost per unit does not reduce as it would with injection moulding.
Conclusion – In the rapidly advancing landscape of additive manufacturing and 3D printing, protecting innovations is a multifaceted endeavour. A holistic approach, encompassing legal, technological, and strategic measures, is necessary. By proactively addressing challenges, staying informed about legal developments, and embracing technological safeguards, companies can secure their place as pioneers in the dynamic world of 3D printing.
Additive manufacturing can reduce the costs of energy and resources necessary to scale production without significant adjustments, enabling industries to improve their business model’s speed and profitability. This technology helps us minimise time-to-market and make production more localised. This will have a meaningful impact on the environment and the constraint of cross-continent travel in the right way. It increased levels of automation which push this transition to improve productivity and increase workers’ safety. This will save lives and improve the profitability of mines. This emerging transformation phase shift opens up new markets on the market and shifts our corporate practices. It makes the proper use of these emerging innovations, and we will have an exponential effect on pollution reduction. AM directly affects the sustainability of our communities and economies.
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