Sewing the digital thread for more sustainable AM
Materialise’s software solutions support greater sustainability across the AM workflow
It’s not difficult to learn about how AM technologies are being used by manufacturers to become more sustainable. More efficient designs, on-demand production and reduction in material waste are all ecological advantages the technology has over more traditional manufacturing processes. However, when we zoom in on AM, it’s also important to think about how additive processes and workflows can themselves be maximized when it comes to sustainability.
According to Belgian 3D printing company Materialise, the right digital thread solution for AM is vital to unlocking greater sustainability for AM users. As we’ll see in greater depth, integrating data across every step of the additive manufacturing process can drive efficiency in more ways than one, including reducing waste, improving energy efficiency, designing more sustainable parts and enabling continuous improvements.
Controlling waste
Among the key selling points of additive manufacturing is the ability to economically produce parts on demand or in small volumes. In itself this capability has ecological benefits, since on-demand production allows manufacturers to dramatically reduce the need for excess inventory and storage. This also has the knock-on effect of minimizing emissions associated with transporting mass volumes of stock as well as minimizing packaging requirements.
In the eyewear industry, for example, more and more brands are turning to 3D printing to pursue a more sustainable business model. Part of the broader fashion industry, which accounts for roughly 10% of global emissions, the eyewear industry has long been faced with challenges associated with the fast fashion model. For one, with quick-changing trends, it is difficult for the industry to keep up with consumer demand. For another, there are risks with bringing new designs to market due to the time and resources invested. In other words, eyewear brands are at risk of over producing units, leading to wasted materials and overall losses.
With 3D printing, up-and-coming eyewear brands are seeing a new way forward. For example, Odette Lunettes, a Belgian brand known for its unique frames, has been leveraging 3D printing to both accelerate the time-to-market for new designs to keep up with changing trends and cut back on wasted materials and resources through a made-to-order model.
The brand’s collection, Odette Lunettes X Tom Boonen, demonstrates this new more sustainable dynamic perfectly. The frames, 3D printed from bio-based Ultrasint PA11, are customized to the wearer and made on-demand to decrease the risk of over-production. The brand has worked with Materialise to bring this solution to life, a journey that took only two months to develop and launch, in large part thanks to the capabilities of AM and an optimized digital design process.
“Sustainability needs to be in every aspect of your brand,” Eline De Munck, Founder of Odette Lunettes. “With 3D printing and PA11 together, we are really able to deliver on that commitment and produce frames that are both fashionable and sustainable.”
Greater production efficiency
Digital software tools also play a critical role in ensuring that AM-based production processes are efficient and reliable. Because let’s be frank: there is nothing sustainable about an inconsistent 3D printing process that is riddled with errors and produces flaw-filled parts. As Materialise sums it up: “No matter which technology you use, it’s possible to minimize how much material you use and the amount of energy your machines consume through software automation tools.”
More specifically, digital thread tools like Magics Nester enables SLS users to nest more parts in a single build without compromising print quality, thus maximizing material and process efficiency, while e-Stage has a couple sustainable benefits, including less resin consumption through minimized supports and more efficient data preparation and finishing.
Korean 3D printing service provider GLUCK, which specializes in the production of humanoid robots, has found Materialise software to be essential to its production process. The Magics 3D printing suite is responsible for simplifying the processing of data across the AM workflow, while the e-Stage for Resin module has enabled GLUCK to automatically generate support structures that are optimized for minimal material usage, removal and, of course, part support.
As the company ramps up its production with the addition of 50 more SLA 3D printers and aims to achieve on-demand mass production services, Materialise software, including management and quality assurance tools, will continue to support the scaling and keep their business running smoothly, with reduced print failures and thus less energy, time and material waste. “We had 3,000 customers last year, and it was challenging to manage them efficiently,” said GLUCK. “Using Materialise software solutions, we managed a high-quality, stable and reliable production workflow.”
Sustainable design
Design freedom is obviously a critical factor when talking about the sustainable potential of additive manufacturing, and maximizing the ecological benefits of more efficient designs requires an in-depth knowledge of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). In many industries, like aerospace, the goal is to reduce part weight, which contributes to greater fuel efficiency. In others, AM design is paving the way for more ecological solutions altogether.
At CMB.TECH, for example, the goal is to decarbonize shipping, and it has been working on developing a hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel combustion technology that converts diesel combustion engines into dual-fuel engines. A critical component in this system is a 3D printed aluminum injection ring, which aspirates hydrogen into the combustion chamber. This part, 3D printed using SLM technology, weighs only 654 grams and is 25% cheaper to manufacture than using casting. That’s not to mention its complex design would be impossible to achieve using anything but AM. From a sustainable perspective, the component contributes to an up to 80% reduction in CO2 emissions in traditional diesel engines in trucks. In prototyping, evaluating the designs, and manufacturing the final parts used to convert a fleet of trucks, CMB.TECH worked closely with Materialise manufacturing experts and its professional Onsite service..
From a digital thread perspective, Materialise’s workflow software, including its CO-AM management solution, enables manufacturers to transition seamlessly from the design stage into full-scale production, to facilitate bringing more sustainable parts to fruition. This digital thread solution can also be integrated within existing production infrastructures.
Continuous feedback for ongoing progress
With a digital thread architecture in place, and with all steps in the product life cycle connected, there is lots of data to leverage. For instance, it can provide vital insights into where your processes are working well and where there are still inefficiencies and problems to solve. Put another way, this data can be used as a form of continuous feedback, which enables manufacturers to keep improving processes to meet important goals like sustainability targets.
“This data is particularly impactful when developing new materials and processes, something we’re equally committed to here at Materialise,” the company says “We use solutions like CO-AM and Quality & Process Control within our own organization to centralize build, process and quality data. By doing the same, you can identify quality gaps, anomalies, and defects within your process. Turn that data into actionable insights, and you’re on the right track.”
Ultimately, having a data-driven understanding of your production processes is key to unlocking greater sustainability in the long term in all the aforementioned ways, and will enable additive manufacturing users to truly maximize the inherent ecological benefits of the technology, like minimal material waste, efficient design and on-demand production.
If you are looking for support in building a strong digital thread for your AM production workflow, Materialise also offers support. “We’re here to help you do it,” the company concludes. “From finding the right AM software for your organization to identifying the applications that best support your sustainability goals or scaling up to series production, you can count on our experts.”
This article was originally published in VoxelMatters’ VM Focus Sustainability AM eBook. Read or download the full eBook for free at this link.
