Development of a design feature database to support design for additive manufacturing

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to aid design practitioners and students towards the design of additive manufactured products or parts produced using laser sintering (LS). Design/methodology/approach A design feature taxonomy was first developed as a guide for the development of a computer‐based design support tool. It comprised four taxons based on the reasons for utilising additive manufacturing (AM). These were user fit requirement, improved product functionality, parts consolidation and improvement of aesthetics or form. Each of the requirements was further expanded into 13 sub‐categories that contained examples of various design features that was then represented in the form of an MS Access database. Findings Results from user trials of the database provide evidence to show the potential of the database, as it enables users to easily visualise and gather information about AM design features. Originality/value The paper describes a database, the aim of which is to serve as a collective source of information for design features produced by AM and as a method to aid the conceptual design process of AM parts or products.