Great question, Stephen!
Well supported thoughts/arguments by David as well.
Here are my two cents:
I think we all should consider AM as a tool. Consider, for instance, when a lathe was discovered. Conventional manufacturing processes before had a particular design and manufacturing constraints inherent to them. Now, with AM, the part complexity is free! Designers no longer think how the part will be made; they instead develop these parts purely based on the application constraints and the performance basis (Google: Porsche tests metal AM pistons)
Historically, the existence of AM was dated back to the early 19th century when electric arc/metal electrodes were used to form decorative articles. However, the real industrial interests started in 1987 when 3D systems commercially launched the SLA process. Fast forward to 2020, and we have over 15 different AM technologies (under 7 ASTM classifications) aiming to capture USD 40 billion market capture by 2024 (Wohlers 2020). However, when compared to traditional manufacturing markets, less than 1% give or take.
Now to answer your exact question, where do we see AM headed, and can we consider it as supportive of mass manufacturing? Until now, factors that are mostly bothering the sustainable and reliable growth for AM technologies were based on factors such as, slower build time, limited part size, part uncertainty (as far as the microstructure and part performance predictability are concerned) amongst many others. For instance, to overcome slower build rates, Digital Alloys have come up with "joule printing," a very fast-paced metal deposition technique with a higher rate of deposition compared to directed energy deposition (DED). OEM suppliers such as EOS/SLM/Renishaw are developing various in-situ process monitoring systems for the Laser Powder Bed Fusion process (e.g., SLM). Ex-one is making more significant part capabilities for the Binder Jetting process along with developing new binders (collaboration with ORNL-MDF). These are some of the highlights where AM processes in particular and technology, in general, is heading. Look at the number of researchers publishing journal articles, with over 122,000 articles published in AM domain till today (source: Science Direct). So AM is headed in the right direction. For the second part of the question, well, why do we need AM for mass productions in the first place? We have this fantastic tool at our disposal for producing niche designs and parts that are especially require a lot of hard tooling and labor! Today, several service bureaus can print an injection molding or die casting tool for you, which otherwise requires several weeks or months to design. With this printed tool, one may produce many intricate parts ranging from automobile mirrors to lipstick holers and vacuum cleaners to what not!
In summary, we have established processes such as casting, metal injection molding (MIM), powder metallurgy (PM) with over 100 years of expertise, and lesson learned for mass manufacturing. It's better to utilize them. We can spare AM from that burdon and keep making it progress towards our long term goals of printing in space! To colonize the moon (and the mars) efforts are underway to study the feasibilities of 3D printing outside Earth. Notably, construction of space structures (it costs around USD 2 million to transport single brick at this moment), fabrication/maintenance of spare parts, and food preparation (should be a reality by ~2050)
Thank you for your time and for reading through this! Your comments/suggestions are welcome.
Best regards,
Yash Parikh
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Yash Parikh
Ph.D. Candidate
Texas A&M University
Bryan TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2020 13:46
From: Stephen Feldbauer
Subject: Additive Manufacturing
Where do you believe additive manufacturing is headed and what roll will it play in mainstream (high volume) manufacturing?
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Stephen Feldbauer
Abbott Furnace Co.
Saint Marys PA
(814) 781-6355
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