Page 34 - MMI- Nov-Dec-2021

Let me elaborate on the new ing. It is capturing the imag- The transformation of physical
evolving technology in the man- ination of the international files to a digital ones makes this
ufacturing process and detail business world and innovators technique an environmentally
the benefits and challenges that because of the enormous pos- friendly one as well.
lie ahead of this advancement in sibility of shape and complex- Additive manufacturing simplifies
manufacturing technology. ity. As the name suggests, this the manufacturing assembly lines
Additive manufacturing makes technique is all about adding AM supports product innova-
the product lighter materials layer by layer to cre- tion and market responsiveness
In a conventional product de- ate parts, whereas traditional because designs can go from a
sign process, engineers use tech- manufacturing worked on the digital file to a finished product
niques like generative design, subtraction of material from an in a very short span of time. It is
topology optimization, and so initial block. Hence, this dras- not only the complexity, but also
on to improve their product tically reduces waste or scrap the combining of many different
strength while keeping the generation that results in sav- parts of a large assembly into a
weight in check. In general de- ing energy through a recycling single bulk part that results in
sign processes, design starts process. One can argue that the a reduced number of parts re-
with a somewhat known con- support structure required for quired for that asset. These ben-
As the name figuration initially and then 3D printing is a waste. Howev- efits are taken to a new height
suggests, parametric studies on dimen- er, it is comparatively very less. by various industries. For ex-
this tech- sions are performed along with Additive manufacturing enables ample, aerospace companies are
nique is all
about adding a few constraints. Many of companies to realize digitalization trying to build a rocket engine
materials these constraints came from the Companies have great potential with 100 parts instead of 10,000
layer by layer manufacturability perspective to realize their digitalization parts. This was just a dream a
to create as well. This approach, to help journey with additive man- few decades ago, but today it’s
parts, where- achieve improvement on the ufacturing. Even if you keep realizable using the additive
as traditional
manufactur- designed parts, was not opti- printing parts aside, the journey technique. This way, design has
ing worked mal. Hence, products created by towards digitalization requires the potential to optimize fur-
on the the conventional process have a digital form of information ther because there are no more
subtraction of much scope for improvement, to store, share, inspect, and re- end-part constraints. Hence, it
material from like making them lighter and, use. AM provides a platform for simplifies the manufacturing
an initial
block. Hence, thereby, reducing the overall various stakeholders, starting process and assembly lines that
this drasti- carbon footprint. Parts designed with the designer, manufactur- translates to fewer man-hours
cally reduces and printed with a complex er, supplier, and operator. They spent on the assembly line
the waste lattice structure are becoming all share the same common and better handling of logistics.
or scrap very common with additive source of truth. This data can This makes the entire assembly
generation
that results technology. This results in light- be easily stored on the cloud lighter and the final product is
in saving en- er products without compromis- and made available among all more efficient.
ergy through ing their functionality require- stakeholders. This leads to the Additive manufacturing con-
the recycling ments for strength. realization of a critical stage sumes less energy
process.
Additive manufacturing reduces called the ‘Digital Thread’ part The initial part of material gen-
wastage of digital manufacturing. Digi- eration like mining and process-
The gap created by convention- tal manufacturing emphasizes ing could have the same energy
al manufacturing constraints the use of technology in a ‘Dig- requirement for any type of
is getting filled with the new ital Thread’ environment to manufacturing process. But it
additive manufacturing tech- efficiently manage change, in- has been observed that tradi-
nique, also known as 3D print- spect, and save energy and cost. tional CNC machining consumes
more energy than additive for
similar part creation. This differ-
ence becomes more significant,
All especially for energy-intensive
components
Larger including material products like titanium.
Volume
Secondary production Primary AM also allows organizations to
and Tertiary components
Customized components produce parts very close to their
users. Reduced
and
transportation
Source: Ansys Prototyping Persoanlized costs for moving various raw
Model
parts
from
one
parts
materials
and
34 | November-December 2021 Modern Manufacturing India