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FEATURE


3D PRINTING/ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SUSTAINABLE METHOD OF


According to the EPA, carbon emissions have increased upwards of 90% since the 1970s; and following the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, companies of all sizes are racing to reduce their carbon footprint and combat the ever-growing issue of global warming. CASTOR, a leading industrial 3D Printing software company, has released new research revealing that manufacturers can reduce carbon emissions through additive manufacturing (AM). Rachael Morling finds out how...


warming. With industrial companies accounting for nearly 54% of the world’s energy consumption, this is an issue that all sectors must take accountability for – and seek solutions to. According to a recent report by CASTOR,


M


however, more than a third of 3D-printed parts can help reduce carbon emissions.


CASTOR: BACKGROUND INFORMATION CASTOR was founded in 2017 by Omer Blaier and Elad Schiller, long-time friends with rich backgrounds in mechanical and software engineering. The company was born out of Blaier’s experience working at Stratasys, a major manufacturer of 3D printers. There, he realised manufacturers were not utilising additive manufacturing to its full potential. There simply were no tools available to help them understand how 3D printing can meet


any companies today are searching for way to reduce their carbon footprint and combat the ever-growing issue of global


their business goals – whether that is reducing costs or meeting ESG goals. With this challenge in mind, CASTOR was


created. The company identifies where, when and how to utilise the benefits of 3D printing technology by automating the process of analysing parts and highlighting specific, high- value, opportunities for additive manufacturing. This year, it joined manufacturing giant Hexagon’s Sixth Sense open innovation platform to scale up and refine its business.


ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS CASTOR’s report emphasises the environmental benefits of using additive manufacturing (AM) over traditional manufacturing methods, highlighting different aspects where AM has


strong CO2 emissions-saving potential – as in complex geometries parts and spare parts that can be produced on-demand. As an example, it illustrated how the avoidance of the production and disposal of a single spare part over a ten-year period can lead to a


significant reduction of three tons of CO2 emissions – equivalent to the emissions produced by 18,000km traveled in a diesel automobile, or 216 train trips between Paris and Amsterdam. These findings demonstrate the potential for AM to make a significant impact on a company’s carbon footprint. Over the last decade, the


company has seen initiatives at every level to promote sustainability across nearly all industries. Having accurate, real-time, data is a crucial factor for decarbonisation and reducing the 1/5th of carbon emissions that the manufacturing industry is


responsible for. Advanced technologies like www.3dcastor.com/2023-sustainability-report 16 DESIGN SOLUTIONS FEBRUARY 2023


AM have the potential to address these issues and promote a greener, more sustainable, means of production.


HOW CAN AM HELP REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS? Additive manufacturing (AM) is a method of manufacturing that involves producing an object by depositing material in precise layers. It is one of the leading sectors in the Industry 4.0 boom, where we are seeing artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and analytics revolutionise the way we design, manufacture, and improve our products. AM is the opposite of subtractive


manufacturing, in which an object is created by cutting into a solid block of material, resulting in waste and scrap. The benefits of AM compared to traditional manufacturing methods such as CNC, injection moulding and dye casting, are especially significant when producing complex, low-volume, high-mix parts. By only producing the parts that are needed, AM can save costs and lead time, without having to compromise on a part’s mechanical properties. AM can help manufacturers reduce carbon


emissions by minimising wasted resource and energy during production. Materials all need to be sourced, manufactured and transported to a factory. More energy is also used to run a production facility. In traditional factories, parts are manufactured in bulk because it is the most cost-effective way. But by only using the materials that are needed to produce a part, and only producing parts that are needed, manufacturers can significantly shorten the iterative process that most manufacturing processes are used to. Designing parts to be manufactured in AM is


often also supported by AI and simulation tools. Such software can analyse product designs and identify and remove unnecessary sections within a part that do not contribute to its structural integrity. This further minimises waste during the manufacturing process. Many of these ‘reduced’ product designs cannot be easily manufactured using traditional subtractive


ADDITIVE MANUFACT


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