Early design stage selection of best manufacturing process (original) (raw)
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Rapid Prototyping Journal, 2020
Purpose-The decision-making for additive manufacturing (AM) process selection is typically applied in the end of the product design stages based upon an already finished design. However, due to unique characteristics of AM processes, the part needs to be designed for the specific AM process. This requires potentially feasible AM techniques to be identified in early design stages. This study aims to develop such a decision-making methodology that can seamlessly be integrated in the product design stages to facilitate AM process selection and assist product/part design. Design/methodology/approach-The decision-making methodology consists of four elements, namely initial screening, technical evaluation and selection of feasible AM processes, re-evaluation of the feasible process, and production machine selection. Prior to the design phase, the methodology determines whether AM production is suitable based on the given design requirements. As the design progresses, a more accurate process selection in terms of technical and economic viability is performed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process technique. Features that would cause potential manufacturability issues and increased production costs will be identified and modified. Finally, a production machine that is best suited for the finished product design is identified. Findings-The methodology was found to be able to facilitate the design process by enabling designers to identify appropriate AM technique and production machine, which was demonstrated in the case study. Originality/value-This study addresses the gap between the isolated product design and process selection stages by developing the decision-making methodology that can be integrated in product design stages.
Proceedings of the Design Society, 2021
Additive manufacturing (AM), which was first applied for rapid prototyping, is now becoming a real option for small-batch production of final products. Further expansion of AM is closely correlated to production costs. AM can only become competitive to traditional manufacturing methods if a product is designed for AM already from the beginning as it is an expensive technology that should only be applied if it adds enough value to the product. The aim of this paper is to increase cost awareness in the conceptual design phase and to support product developers in doing AM cost estimation and process selection. The proposed model integrates design for AM and costs calculation. The input data to the process is preliminary design and design requirements. The main contribution of this paper is the multi-criteria AM function, which enables concurrent consideration of different technical and economical criteria. The multi-criteria AM function helps to compare how AM processing and product de...
Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
Market dynamics of today are constantly evolving in the presence of emerging technologies such as Additive Manufacturing (AM). Drivers such as mass customization strategies, high part-complexity needs, shorter product development cycles, a large pool of materials to choose from, abundant manufacturing processes, diverse streams of applications (e.g. aerospace, motor vehicles, and health care) and high cost incurred due to manufacturability of the part have made it essential to choose the right compromise of materials, manufacturing processes and associated machines in early stages of design considering the Design for Additive Manufacturing guidelines. There exists a complex relationship between AM products and their process data. However, the literature to-date shows very less studies targeting this integration. As several criteria, material attributes and process functionality requirements are involved for decision making in the industries, this paper introduces a generic decision methodology, based on multi-criteria decision-making tools, that will not only provide a set of compromised AM materials, processes and machines but will also act as a guideline for designers to achieve a strong foothold in the AM industry by providing practical solutions containing design oriented and feasible material-machine combinations from a current database of 38 renowned AM vendors in the world. An industrial case study, related to aerospace, has also been tested in detail via the proposed methodology.
Applied Sciences
Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies have expanded the possibility of producing unconventional geometries, also increasing the freedom of design. However, in the designer’s everyday work, the decision regarding the adoption of AM for the production of a component is not straightforward. In fact, it is necessary to process much information regarding multiple fields to exploit the maximum potential of additive production. For example, there is a need to evaluate the properties of the printable materials, their compatibility with the specific application, redesign shapes accordingly to AM limits, and conceive unique and complex products. Additionally, procurement and logistics evaluations, as well as overall costs possibly extending to the entire life cycle, are necessary to come to a decision for a new and radical solution. In this context, this paper investigates the complex set of information involved in this process. Indeed, it proposes a framework to support and guide a design...
International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM), 2017
Additive manufacturing is an innovative manufacturing process that enables rapid manufacturing of functional products and parts. On the other side, considering environmental aspects in design is beneficial as it leads to lower costs, improved product quality, new business opportunities. Thus, in order to foster the potential of AM in product innovation and product manufacturing in the light of environmental concerns, a new design method is necessary. This paper proposes a method in the context of Design with Additive Manufacturing, to take into account the specificities of this manufacturing process in a Design to Environment approach. The method is focused on the Early Design Stages (EDS) of the product development process, which are crucial not only for choices regarding the product characteristics but also for the environmental parameters that need to be taken into consideration. The implementation of the proposed method in creativity session of the EDS underlined the need for dedicated supports in terms of environmental decisions. More and specifically the need for providing tools to capitalize the decisions made focusing on each Life Cycle Stage of the product was identified as a requirement for this support.
An ad hoc decision support method over additive vs. conventional manufacturing
MATEC Web of Conferences
The mechanical design process considers numerous factors. Requirements related to performance and quality, limitations by legislation, standards, methods utilized or technological boundaries, urgency, cost, data preparation and preservation, design flexibility and organizational aspects. Successful design consists of proper decisions on form, geometry, materials, manufacturing methods, quality, reliability and more. Nowadays, a critical decision during design and realization of technological objects is whether they should be made conventionally or with Additive Manufacturing (AM)/3D Printing methods. Such a decision occurs under time-pressure or via a broader strategy for technological switch, is complex, multi-parametric and bears uncertainty and risk. A simple, effective and substantiated method to assist decisions for switching from conventional to AM could prove very useful. This paper refers to recent trends and activity in international AM-related standards, then presents and ...
Integrated design-oriented framework for Resource Selection in Additive Manufacturing
Procedia CIRP
In today's business environment, the trend towards more product variety and customization is unbroken. Due to this development, the need of agile and reconfigurable production systems emerged to cope with various products and product families. To design and optimize production systems as well as to choose the optimal product matches, product analysis methods are needed. Indeed, most of the known methods aim to analyze a product or one product family on the physical level. Different product families, however, may differ largely in terms of the number and nature of components. This fact impedes an efficient comparison and choice of appropriate product family combinations for the production system. A new methodology is proposed to analyze existing products in view of their functional and physical architecture. The aim is to cluster these products in new assembly oriented product families for the optimization of existing assembly lines and the creation of future reconfigurable assembly systems. Based on Datum Flow Chain, the physical structure of the products is analyzed. Functional subassemblies are identified, and a functional analysis is performed. Moreover, a hybrid functional and physical architecture graph (HyFPAG) is the output which depicts the similarity between product families by providing design support to both, production system planners and product designers. An illustrative example of a nail-clipper is used to explain the proposed methodology. An industrial case study on two product families of steering columns of thyssenkrupp Presta France is then carried out to give a first industrial evaluation of the proposed approach.