scholarly journals An Investigation of the Metal Additive Manufacturing Issues and Perspective for Solutions Approach

Author(s):  
Omar Ahmed Al-Shebeeb

Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) is delivering a new revolution in producing three-dimensional parts from metal-based material. MAM can fabricate metallic parts with complex geometry. However, this type of Additive Manufacturing (AM) is also impacted by several issues, challenges, and defects, which influence product quality and process sustainability. In this chapter, a review has been made on the types of small to medium-sized metallic parts currently manufactured using the MAM method. Then, investigation was undertaken to analyze the defects, challenges, and issues inherent to the design for additive manufacturing, by using MAM method. MAM-related obstacles are discussed in depth in this chapter and these obstacles occur in all size of metal printed parts. The reasons and solutions presented by previous researchers of these obstacles are discussed as well. A potential approach based on the author’s knowledge and analysis for solving these issues and challenges is suggested in this chapter. Based on the author’s conclusion, the MAM is not limited by part size, material, or geometry. In order to validate the potential solutions developed by the author of this work, performing actual MAM process is required and a local visit to manufacturing factories are also important to visualize these challenges and issues.

Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Santecchia ◽  
Stefano Spigarelli ◽  
Marcello Cabibbo

Metal additive manufacturing is changing the way in which engineers and designers model the production of three-dimensional (3D) objects, with rapid growth seen in recent years. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is the most used metal additive manufacturing technique, and it is based on the efficient interaction between a high-energy laser and a metal powder feedstock. To make LPBF more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly, it is of paramount importance to recycle (reuse) the unfused powder from a build job. However, since the laser–powder interaction involves complex physics phenomena and generates by-products which might affect the integrity of the feedstock and the final build part, a better understanding of the overall process should be attained. The present review paper is focused on the clarification of the interaction between laser and metal powder, with a strong focus on its side effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 12036
Author(s):  
Tomasz Blachowicz ◽  
Guido Ehrmann ◽  
Andrea Ehrmann

The emerging technology of 3D printing can not only be used for rapid prototyping, but will also play an important role in space exploration. Additive manufactured parts can be used in diverse space applications, such as magnetic shields, heat pipes, thrusters, etc. Three-dimensional printed parts offer reduced mass, high possible complexity, and fast printability of custom-made objects. On the other hand, materials which are not excessively damaged by the harsh conditions in space and are also printable by available technologies are not abundantly available. This review gives an overview of recent metal additive manufacturing technologies and their possible applications in space, with a focus on satellites and rockets, highlighting already applied technologies and materials and gives an outlook on possible future applications and challenges.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1391
Author(s):  
Leila Ladani ◽  
Maryam Sadeghilaridjani

Additive manufacturing (AM) as a disruptive technology has received much attention in recent years. In practice, however, much effort is focused on the AM of polymers. It is comparatively more expensive and more challenging to additively manufacture metallic parts due to their high temperature, the cost of producing powders, and capital outlays for metal additive manufacturing equipment. The main technology currently used by numerous companies in the aerospace and biomedical sectors to fabricate metallic parts is powder bed technology, in which either electron or laser beams are used to melt and fuse the powder particles line by line to make a three-dimensional part. Since this technology is new and also sought by manufacturers, many scientific questions have arisen that need to be answered. This manuscript gives an introduction to the technology and common materials and applications. Furthermore, the microstructure and quality of parts made using powder bed technology for several materials that are commonly fabricated using this technology are reviewed and the effects of several process parameters investigated in the literature are examined. New advances in fabricating highly conductive metals such as copper and aluminum are discussed and potential for future improvements is explored.


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 959
Author(s):  
Naoko Ikeo ◽  
Hidetsugu Fukuda ◽  
Aira Matsugaki ◽  
Toru Inoue ◽  
Ai Serizawa ◽  
...  

Metal additive manufacturing is a powerful tool for providing the desired functional performance through a three-dimensional (3D) structural design. Among the material functions, anisotropic mechanical properties are indispensable for enabling the capabilities of structural materials for living tissues. For biomedical materials to replace bone function, it is necessary to provide an anisotropic mechanical property that mimics that of bones. For desired control of the mechanical performance of the materials, we propose a novel 3D puzzle structure with cube-shaped parts comprising 27 (3 × 3 × 3) unit compartments. We designed and fabricated a Co–Cr–Mo composite structure through spatial control of the positional arrangement of powder/solid parts using the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) method. The mechanical function of the fabricated structure can be predicted using the rule of mixtures based on the arrangement pattern of each part. The solid parts in the cubic structure were obtained by melting and solidifying the metal powder with a laser, while the powder parts were obtained through the remaining nonmelted powders inside the structure. This is the first report to achieve an innovative material design that can provide an anisotropic Young’s modulus by arranging the powder and solid parts using additive manufacturing technology.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitish P. Gokhale ◽  
Prateek Kala

Purpose This study aims to develop and demonstrate a deposition framework for the implementation of a region-based adaptive slicing strategy for the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding-based additive manufacturing system. The present study demonstrates a deposition framework for implementing a novel region-based adaptive slicing strategy termed as Fast Interior and Accurate Exterior with Constant Layer Height (FIAECLH). Design/methodology/approach The mentioned framework has been developed by performing experiments using the design of experiments and analyzing the experimental data. Analysis results have been used to obtain the mathematical function to integrate customization in the process. The paper, in the end, demonstrates the FIAECLH framework for implementing region-based adaptive slicing strategy on the hardware level. Findings The study showcase a new way of implementing the region-based adaptive slicing strategy to arc-based metal additive manufacturing. The study articulating a new strategy for its implementation in all types of wire and arc additive manufacturing processes. Originality/value Wire-arc-based technology has the potential to deliver cost-effective solutions for metal additive manufacturing. The research on arc welding-based processes is being carried out in different dimensions. To deposit parts with complex geometry and better dimensional accuracy implementation of a novel region-based adaptive slicing strategy for the arc-based additive manufacturing process is an essential task. The successful implementation of an adaptive slicing strategy would ease the fabrication of complex geometry in less time. This paper accomplishes this need of implementing a region-based adaptive slicing strategy as no experimental investigation has been reported for the TIG-based additive manufacturing process.


Metals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahir Mohd Yusuf ◽  
Samuel Cutler ◽  
Nong Gao

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has matured from its infancy in the research stage to the fabrication of a wide range of commercial functional applications. In particular, at present, metal AM is now popular in the aerospace industry to build and repair various components for commercial and military aircraft, as well as outer space vehicles. Firstly, this review describes the categories of AM technologies that are commonly used to fabricate metallic parts. Then, the evolution of metal AM used in the aerospace industry from just prototyping to the manufacturing of propulsion systems and structural components is also highlighted. In addition, current outstanding issues that prevent metal AM from entering mass production in the aerospace industry are discussed, including the development of standards and qualifications, sustainability, and supply chain development.


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