Abstract

From last few years the fabricating technology has been recognized as an integrated potent tool for designing sustainable, customized and innovative products with high value. Additive manufacturing techniques has been introduced as one of the most efficient fabricating technique which helps to join two or more than two materials with the help of various processes. Different types of technologies are used in additive manufacturing process that helps to design various versatile materials. This research mainly focuses on the various applications of the additive manufacturing in the field of polymers and in the field of metals for fabricating energy absorbing structure. This research study also focuses on the various applications of the additive manufacturing process in accordance with the previous research study. This research study also demonstrates the critical analysis of the implementation factors and structural models of the additive manufacturing process.

Literature review

Introduction

This part of the report mainly focuses on the various reviews of the different reviews of the previous researchers from various journals. This part of the report helps to understand the various application of additive manufacturing process and framework of the additive manufacturing process that helps to design and fabricating of the several materials. Additive manufacturing process has been recognized as an integrated process in the field of digital technology which helps to manufacture several kinds of layer by layer objects with the help of three dimensional computer aided design or CAD. There are a wide range of technologies which are introduced for designing and fabricating such as 3D printing technology, stereo lithography (SL), reflective laser sintering (SLS) and fused depositions modelling. This part of the report mainly focuses on the applications of the additive manufacturing process, distributed production, implementation of the new technology and implementation of the additive manufacturing technology[1].

Additive manufacturing process

Additive manufacturing process is very important for fabricating and designing of the various objects layer by layer with the help of three dimensional computer aided design. With the help of three dimensions CAD model the two dimension model can be designed and fabricated. The two dimensional layers of the design are sent to the three dimensional aided design for printing. With the help of several solidification methods the raw materials are designed. Depending on the size and materials the various objects are designed with the help of designing method. In accordance with the research of various previous researchers it can be understood that the technology which is used for designing and fabricating of the materials are the rapid prototyping technology. This method is used for developing and designing of the physical rough prototypes at the final products. The additive manufacturing process has been considered as an emerging process. Different types of geometrical shapes are designed through the help of additive manufacturing process that can be helpful for designing and fabricating of the different types of products and materials. The complexities in the additive manufacturing process can be reduced depending upon the size and weight of the materials which is to be designed. In recent days various parts of the products are introduced for enhancing the quality of the functional parts of the design process for several applications of the additive manufacturing process such as hearing aid, ducts of the air cooling and various prosthesis equipments. The American society for testing and material committee or ASTM has recently introduced the additive manufacturing technology for enhancing the competitiveness of the company. In accordance with the various previous studies it can be understood that the implementation of the various distributed strategies has several advantages for producing goods and services. The various advantages factors of the additive manufacturing process such as flexibility, efficiency,  reliability and accurate which helps to design and developing of the several kinds of materials and products. For designing of the several kinds of tangible goods production and for lower capital investment this type of additive manufacturing process is very helpful[2]. The distributed production strategy can be improved through the help of this type of manufacturing process. The cost benefit analysis or CBA before the any kinds of decision making process   is very important which can be deigned through the help of implementation process of additive manufacturing.

AM applications

With the help of various processes and technology the additive manufacturing process helps to design several kinds of materials and products. According to the review of Antonucci et al., (2002) it can be understood that there are different eight steps for designing of various material with the help of CAD design are summarized below;

• CAD and conceptualization.
• Conversion to STL.
• Manipulation and transfer of STL on the process of additive materials.
• Setting up the machine.
• Building of the products or materials.
• Clean up and the removal of the parts.
• Post processing part.

Distributive production

In supply chain management the additive manufacturing plays a significant role which helps to take several decisions. There are two types of production options that help to provide several production facilities such as the facilities of the production within the centralized location and the decentralizing of the various productions in different regions. In accordance with the research study of Mellor, Hao and Zhang, (2013) it can be understood that public organization choose several kinds of decentralization of the products that help to provide a wide range of production and services.  With the help of this kind of technology the cost of the supply chain and the value of the customer can be balanced. The decisions of the production supply chain configuration help to ensure several benefits that help to reduce the time for processing[3]. The profitability of the organization can be improved through the help of supply chain process with additive manufacturing process. These kinds of decisions help to produce several kinds of spare parts with using additive manufacturing process. The distributed production in supply chain management can be improved through the help of this kind of approach. For implementation of the final spare products additive manufacturing process and technology is widely used which helps to enhance the productivity of the goods and services[4].

Manufacturing capabilities

The capability of manufacturing is very much vast for the additive manufacturing. The traditional turning and milling process mainly deals with different types of designs but the designs that are perfect for the turning and milling process are the easies forms like planes or cylinders etc. The complex styles are made easily by the additive manufacturing process. It can produce any kind of geometrical shapes or structures. The principle of the manufacturing process for the additive manufacturing is also different^[5]. Actually the manufacturing process is combined of the slicing and making the different parts separately of a complex design. So the manufacturing process is systematically done one slice at a time. In case of the layer based such processes the trajectories which scans the design are directly put according to the alignment of the section. The nozzles of the DMD are mainly put vertical to the surface of manufacturing. The process also has benefits as the pacing of the materials can be done according to the necessity^[6]. For example where the addition requires the material is projected at that very place making it more suitable for manufacturing the complex designs. The wastage of the material is minimal as t here is a scope to not use any material where there is no addition required. For the other processes, he manufacturing is mainly done by removing the unwanted materials. So the wastage of the material is higher in those cases. The production process is also benefitted as the object can be made according to the requirement. For example the rigidity of the product is an important factor that is difficult to control in case of the traditional processes. And the probability of the presence of defect and weak partition is higher for those processes. But in this case the structure of the manufacture can be changes according to the need. To manufacturing a rigid structure the two directional or three dimensional lattices structure is generally used. The product output can be as rigid as it is necessary. The controlling process of the product quality and product type is very much flexible and efficient by this process. The better and smart technique is available there and the perfection is much higher.  The layer based process always requires a flat surface to start the manufacturing but in case of the manufacturing process of DMD the flat surface is not always necessary and the product can be stared manufacturing perform different complex surfaces as per the requirement. The process is also facilitates the manufacturing process by using different processes operating simultaneously.

Designing advantages

There are different types of parts in the manufacturing industry. In the traditional process of the manufacturing the different part the different parts are manufactured in the different segment with the help of the different manufacturing processes. After that the different parts are assembled. So the parts which are made of the different types of materials are made in the different parts and then they can be joined together strongly. But in case of the DMD the process of the manufacturing can also be assembled during the manufacturing time. The parts are made one after another and the newer part can be manufactured on the base of the part that is already made. For example if the manufacturing process of the turbine is analysed. In the case of the DMD manufacturing process the parts of the turbine can be joined wile manufacturing. In the traditional process the turbine blades and the turbine shaft is made separately. After that the blades are joined with the shaft strongly in a separate process. This is much longer process and the process of joining the turbine blades can be not done well^[7]. In case of the DMD process the turbine blades can be made directly on the turbine shaft and the manufacturing time it is directly placed on the turbine shaft strongly. The complexity of the process of manufacturing is also minimised withy the help of the DMD technique.

The manufacturing material of DMD process is somehow different from the traditional manufacturing process. In case of the traditional manufacturing process the more used materials are the alloys of aluminium and cast iron. But in case of the DMD manufacturing process the main manufacturing material that is more suitable for the manufacturing through the process are the cobalt chrome alloy and titanium alloys^[8]. The cost of the manufacturing alloys is much lower as the atomizations of the metals are the mainly used for this type of manufacturing. The cost of the atomisation is minimised with the absence of the traditional manufacturing processes of the alloys.

The provision of the more modified and efficient designing is energised with the help of DMD. As the titanium alloy is much lighter and have better mechanical properties the manufacturer and the designer can use the advantages of this and can make other types of design that is most suitable for the advanced manufacturing with the help of DMD. The manufacturing scopes with the help of the multi material parts manufacturing process sis facilitated by the process. Hence the designer can avail more and vast scopes to manufacture a better material with many efficient and necessary qualities. For example the uses of the steel particles in the bronze matrix are a good example of the advanced utilisation of the more efficient manufacturing materials.

Conclusion

The advance of technology facilitated the production of new kind of materials. The better and more efficient manufacturing processes like additive manufacturing helps to modify the style and the material of the manufacturing. This age is being affected by the energy crisis and the sources of raw material of the different products are also reducing day by day. So it is very much essential to optimise the use of the energy and the raw materials. The progress of technology has huge scopes of such development. Additive designing and manufacturing process is one of the important steps to produce the products in much efficient process.

References

Antonucci, V., Giordano, M., Imparato, S. and Nicolais, L. (2002). Autoclave manufacturing of thick composites. Polymer Composites, 23(5), pp.902-910.

Choi, J., Yamashita, M., Sakakibara, J., Kaji, Y., Oshika, T. and Wicker, R. (2010). Combined micro and macro additive manufacturing of a swirling flow coaxial phacoemulsifier sleeve with internal micro-vanes. Biomedical Microdevices, 12(5), pp.875-886.

Garschke, C., Weimer, C., Parlevliet, P. and Fox, B. (2012). Out-of-autoclave cure cycle study of a resin film infusion process using in situ process monitoring. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 43(6), pp.935-944.

Khajavi, S., Partanen, J. and Holmstro, J. (2013). Additive manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain.

Khanam, P. and AlMaadeed, M. (2015). Processing and characterization of polyethylene-based composites. Advanced Manufacturing: Polymer & Composites Science, 1(2), pp.63-79.

Mellor, S., Hao, L. and Zhang, D. (2013). Additivemanufacturing:Aframeworkforimplementation.

Kaim, W. and Sarkar, B. (2007). Mixed valency in ruthenium complexes—Coordinative aspects.Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 251(3-4), pp.584-594.

Li, X., Zang, T., Yu, L., Zhang, D., Lu, G., Chi, H., Xiao, G., Dong, Y., Cui, Z., Zhang, Z. and Hu, Z. (2012). A promising phosphorescent heteroleptic iridium complex with carbazole-functionalized substituent: Synthesis, photophysical and electroluminescent performances. Optical Materials, 35(2), pp.300-306.

Vayre, B., Vignat, F. and Villeneuve, F. (2012). Designing for Additive Manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 3, pp.632-637.

[1] Choi, J., Yamashita, M., Sakakibara, J., Kaji, Y., Oshika, T. and Wicker, R. (2010). Combined micro and macro additive manufacturing of a swirling flow coaxial phacoemulsifier sleeve with internal micro-vanes. Biomedical Microdevices, 12(5), pp.875-886.

[2] Khanam, P. and AlMaadeed, M. (2015). Processing and characterization of polyethylene-based composites. Advanced Manufacturing: Polymer & Composites Science, 1(2), pp.63-79.

[3] Antonucci, V., Giordano, M., Imparato, S. and Nicolais, L. (2002). Autoclave manufacturing of thick composites. Polymer Composites, 23(5), pp.902-910.

[4] Khanam, P. and AlMaadeed, M. (2015). Processing and characterization of polyethylene-based composites. Advanced Manufacturing: Polymer & Composites Science, 1(2), pp.63-79.

[5] Vayre, B., Vignat, F. and Villeneuve, F. (2012). Designing for Additive Manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 3, pp.632-637.

[6] Kaim, W. and Sarkar, B. (2007). Mixed valency in ruthenium complexes—Coordinative aspects. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 251(3-4), pp.584-594.

[7] Li, X., Zang, T., Yu, L., Zhang, D., Lu, G., Chi, H., Xiao, G., Dong, Y., Cui, Z., Zhang, Z. and Hu, Z. (2012). A promising phosphorescent heteroleptic iridium complex with carbazole-functionalized substituent: Synthesis, photophysical and electroluminescent performances. Optical Materials, 35(2), pp.300-306.

[8] Vayre, B., Vignat, F. and Villeneuve, F. (2012). Designing for Additive Manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 3, pp.632-637.