3-D printing and the environment: Manufacturing, product development and supply chain implications

In this presentation we briefly review the successes, challenges, and potential consequences of this technology. 3-D printing has already demonstrated significant changes to how we design and manufacture solid objects and... [ view full abstract ]

In this presentation we briefly review the successes, challenges, and potential consequences of this technology. 3-D printing has already demonstrated significant changes to how we design and manufacture solid objects and products. Furthermore, some early life cycle assessment results indicate potentially lower energy and carbon emissions for some applications. This success has led to speculation about significant additional benefits when this technology is adopted at a larger scale. Here we review real applications and recent LCA results, compare speculation with the physical limits of this technology, and provide a context for understanding the potential future environmental and supply chain issues. In particular, by applying thermodynamics principles, we demonstrate the limits for production rate (i.e. the maximum) and energy use (i.e. the minimum), and compare these with available experimental data for the powder bed fusion of steel (10 cases) and aluminum (7 cases) parts, with some additional data and models for plastics and composites, including the so-called Big Area Additive Manufacturing process (BAAM) developed by Cincinnati Corp. and Oak Ridge National Labs and currently applied at Local Motors who make 3-D printed cars. This comparison suggests improvement options, but also indicates that current rate efficiencies and energy efficiencies are stalled with only modest or no improvement over the last decade. We then demonstrate similarities with the developmental trends for other manufacturing technologies and speculate about the future of 3-D printing. Alternative supply chain development and consequences will be discussed briefly, with suggestions for future research.