Sustainability of metal powder additive manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing, or 3D-printing, has attracted attention and raised expectations regarding future production and repair of parts, for example, in the aerospace industry. Various techniques have been utilized to deposit metal alloys for components. It has been suggested that this may offer great benefits in terms of sustainability, in particular, new opportunities for lightweighting. There are, however, outstanding questions about sustainability benefits outside of the use phase. In this paper, the material and manufacturing life-cycle stages were investigated for details produced using INCONEL 718. Energy measurements from an ARCAM A2X Electron Beam Melting system are presented and compared to the embodied energy and indirect CO2-emissions of the feedstock as well as to traditional subtractive manufacturing. It is found that both the metal powder production and the additive manufacturing process itself contribute considerably to total energy use and emissions. Ashby's 5-step method for assessment of sustainable development is used to briefly discuss economic and social implications of additive manufacturing.