Design for Additive Manufacturing – Supporting the Substitution of Components in Series Products

TLDR

Additive manufacturing technologies such as Selective Laser Sintering and Selective Laser Melting can produce thermoplastic or metal parts directly from a 3D CAD model with few shape restrictions, making them suitable for end‑user products. The study aims to leverage the geometric freedom of additive manufacturing to replace conventional parts in series products, improving functionality while satisfying producer and customer needs. The authors present four criteria for selecting components suitable for redesign and illustrate them through four case studies. The criteria and success factors were validated in four case studies, demonstrating their applicability for redesign.

Abstract

The Additive Manufacturing technologies Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) are capable to produce thermoplastic or metal parts, which are fit for end-user products. Both technologies create three-dimensional objects directly from a 3D CAD model with little restrictions regarding the shape of the object. This geometrical freedom in design can be utilized to largely improve the functionality of series products by substituting conventional parts with additive manufactured ones. Four criteria are presented here to identify components of a product for a re-design. A successful re-design has to meet the needs of the producer and his customers. The selection criteria and success factors for a re-design are demonstrated in four cases.