Design for manufacture and assembly (DFM) has typically meant that designers should tailor their designs to eliminate manufacturing difficulties and minimize manufacturing, assembly, and logistics costs. However, the capabilities of additive manufacturing technologies provide an opportunity to rethink DFM to take advantage of the unique capabilities of these technologies. As mentioned in Chap. 16, several companies are now using AM technologies for production manufacturing. For example, Siemens, Phonak, Widex, and the other hearing aid manufacturers use selective laser sintering and stereolithography machines to produce hearing aid shells; Align Technology uses stereolithography to fabricate molds for producing clear dental braces (“aligners”); and Boeing and its suppliers use polymer powder bed fusion (PBF) to produce ducts and similar parts for F-17 fighter jets. For hearing aids and dental aligners, AM machines enable manufacturing of tens to hundreds of thousands of parts, where each part is uniquely customized based upon person-specific geometric data. In the case of aircraft components, AM technology enables low-volume manufacturing, easy integration of design changes and, at least as importantly, piece part reductions to greatly simplify product assembly.

Design for Additive Manufacturing

FDM process parameters influence over the mechanical properties of polymer specimens: A review

The Role of Additive Manufacturing in the Era of Industry 4.0

Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing has revolutionized the manufacturing world through its rapid and geometrically-intricate capabilities as well as economic benefits. Countless businesses in automotive, aerospace, medical, and even food industries have adopted this approach over the past decade. Though this revolution has sparked widespread innovation with single material usage, the manufacturing world is constantly evolving. 3D printers now have the capability to create multi-material systems with performance improvements in user-definable locations. This means throughout a single component, properties like hardness, corrosion resistance, and environmental adaptation can be defined in areas that require it the most. These new processes allow for exciting multifunctional parts to be built that were never possible through traditional, single material AM processes. AM of metals, ceramics, and polymers is currently being evaluated to combine multiple materials in one operation and has already produced never-before-produced parts. While multi-material AM is still in its infancy, researchers are shifting their mindset toward this unique approach showing that the technology is beginning to advance past a research and development stage into real-world applications. This review is intended to highlight the range of 3D printed polymer-based, metal-metal, and metal-ceramic applications while discussing advantages and challenges with additively manufactured multi-material structures.

Additive manufacturing of multi-material structures

Laser based additive manufacturing in industry and academia

The past few decades have seen substantial growth in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. However, this growth has mainly been process-driven. The evolution of engineering design to take advantage of the possibilities afforded by AM and to manage the constraints associated with the technology has lagged behind. This paper presents the major opportunities, constraints, and economic considerations for Design for Additive Manufacturing. It explores issues related to design and redesign for direct and indirect AM production. It also highlights key industrial applications, outlines future challenges, and identifies promising directions for research and the exploitation of AM's full potential in industry.

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Patricia Graf

Papers

Design for additive manufacturing: trends, opportunities, considerations, and constraints