Lightweight construction and 3D printing make a good match. A new brief analysis features four scenarios showing the potential for savings additive manufacturing can offer companies in industrial production.

There are many examples of what 3D printing in lightweight construction can make possible in today’s age: bionic structures or small series that previously wouldn’t have been efficient to produce. Resource efficiency is just as important. But all theory is gray, and researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Ferdinand-Steinbeis Institute have developed a brief analysis , which has now been published by Leichtbau BW GmbH .

Among other things, the study reveals how using external AM (additive manufacturing) service providers can achieve scale effects. Potentials for savings can be realized by using and better utilizing in-house machines when finishing AM products. The study also addresses the opportunities and risks presented by additive manufacturing as a service.

The results of the analysis are supported by a study of the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics . Researches aimed to learn how resource-efficient a production process is when lightweight components are made out of aluminum using additive manufacturing. The answer: very much so. Even the most minor of savings in materials and resources per component would achieve major cost savings in series production. At the end of the day, researchers concluded that generative metal production is a game changer for many industries, such as aviation and aerospace technology, vehicle and medical engineering and tool making.

By 3D printing, components can be realized that were previously unthinkable using traditional production methods. However, additive manufacturing is also about resource efficiency: material is only used where it is really needed. Apart from the individual manufacturing process, there are at least as many potential savings in the entire value-added system. But where, and under what circumstances, will these potentials be realized. Answers to this are provided by the new short analysis "Additive Manufacturing in Lightweight Construction". In addition, the Additive Manufacturing Strategy Conference on May 15 and 16 addresses the key AM technology trends and the question of how to make money from the technology.

The short analysis provides starting points for companies in four scenarios, where the greatest resource savings are possible in the area of ??tension between decentralized or centralized, in-house or out-of-house production or, for example, in spare parts production. The results of the short study are based on the analysis of four AM value creation scenarios that are feasible in industrial SMEs, as well as in large enterprises and across industries. For example, the brief analysis shows how economies of scale can be achieved by using external AM service providers. According to the short analysis in Additive Manufacturing, companies can also realize potentials for resource efficiency for themselves: If, for example, the "conventional" processes already existing in the company are used in the post-processing of AM semi-finished products, it is easier to utilize the company's own production facilities is only a brief insight into the short analysis "Additive Manufacturing in lightweight construction".

Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics

Germany