The emerging of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0 (I4.0), from the advancement in several technologies is viewed not only to promote economic growth, but also to enable a greener future. The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations for sustainable development sets out clear goals for the industry to foster the economy, while preserving social well-being and ecological validity. However, the influence of I4.0 technologies on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has not been conclusively or systematically investigated. By understanding the link between the I4.0 technologies and the SDGs, researchers can better support policymakers to consider the technological advancement in updating and harmonizing policies and strategies in different sectors (i.e., education, industry, and governmental) with the SDGs. To address this gap, academic experts in this paper have investigated the influence of I4.0 technologies on the sustainability targets identified by the UN. Key I4.0 element technologies have been classified to enable a quantitative mapping with the 17 SDGs. The results indicate that the majority of the I4.0 technologies can contribute positively to achieving the UN agenda. It was also found that the effects of the technologies on individual goals varies between direct and strong, and indirect and weak influences. The main insights and lessons learned from the mapping are provided to support future policy.

Mapping Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies into United Nations Sustainability Development Goals

Progression in manufacturing of functionally graded materials and impact of thermal treatment—A critical review

High-fidelity modelling of thermal stress for additive manufacturing by linking thermal-fluid and mechanical models

Additive Manufacturing concentrates the attention, not only of the research and academic community, but of the industry as well. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) are among the broadest employed methods in AM, since they can treat almost all types of materials. Along with the extensive experimental research that is carried out regarding SLS and SLM, modeling and simulation are powerful tools allowing better and more in depth understanding of the processes. Nevertheless, there is no general framework in modeling, but mainly studies and proposed modeling approaches. The current paper reviews modeling methods and techniques that in literature are presented for the simulation of SLM and SLS. Besides the Finite Element Method, which is the most common method used, other numerical methods like Discrete Element Method, Smoothed Particles Hydrodynamics and Molecular Dynamics have been overviewed as well. The heat transfer and fluid dynamics models consist the main core of every simulation, while other sub-models are integrated to estimate parameters like residual stresses, part deformation, material microstructure, or crystallization. The main scope of the current paper is to provide a comprehensive and detailed review on the modeling and simulation of SLS/SLM and to inform the reader concerning the different modeling strategies.

On the Modeling and Simulation of SLM and SLS for Metal and Polymer Powders: A Review

The trend of growth and aging of population worldwide will pose new challenges in health care, which will require faster solutions addressed to specific pacient needs. In this regard, additive manufacturing (AM) is a group of promising technologies capable of delivering custom biomedical parts of high complexity in reduced lead time. Although it has emerged commercially in the 1980s as a rapid prototyping and modeling technique, it is now applied to production of a wide range of shapes with various possible materials. In this work, the technological aspects of each type of AM process were reviewed according to their advantages, limitations and potential or current applications for the production of medical devices. Direct comparisons of resolution, price and printing speed made possible to identify the most important niche for each AM process in health care sciences. In one hand, the many variables involved make these processes difficult to model and control, but in the other hand, they allow fine tuning of the microstructure to produce purposeful anisotropy, porosity and varying chemical composition, which may be desired in many medical devices. In addition, since the AM technologies have different working principles and feedstock requirements, the historic concept and classification of biomaterials were also assessed in view of their application for tissue engineering, implantable devices and surgery equipment among other uses. The discussion of materials and manufacturing methods was based on several research works and commercial products, which show a extremely fast developing field with a broad range of current and future possibilities in terms of biomedical applications.

Raj Maiti

Papers

Advances in additive manufacturing process simulation: Residual stresses and distortion predictions in complex metallic components