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3D PRINTING/ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FEATURE
With the triple bottom line gaining momentum
in companies across the globe, more and more
businesses are trying to ensure that they deliver
not just on profit, but on social and environmental issues as well. How
Wire Arc Additive
MAnufActuring for WAste, footprint
And cost reduction A
s we enter 2024, manufacturers are navigating many challenges, including the need to have more resilient
supply chains. This is only set to increase in priority – first due to the Covid crisis, then the subsequent Suez Canal block which we are effectively seeing again, and the overall instability in global power structures. As a result, procurement and distribution
resilience will continue to move up corporate agendas. Many are already actively looking at how to shorten supply chains and minimise overproduction and transportation management disruption. A tool that is helping manufacturers as they
look to achieve more resilient supply chains is additive manufacturing (AM). AM can deliver customisable components that can be printed locally, with a high degree of material utilisation, minimum fixed costs and environmental benefits. Metal additive manufacturing in particular
is growing at a significant pace. It was valued at US$ 2.90 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach around USD 40.1 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 30.3% from 2023 to 2032.
Delivering time, cost anD environmental savings
When it comes to creating medium- to large-scale metal components, wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has been shown to demonstrate some of the most significant potential for time, cost and environmental savings in both component fabrication and repairs. WAAM reduces waste and swarf – Despite
closed die forging making huge strides forward in terms of reducing material wastage, traditional forging still leads to high material wastage.
WAAM can significantly reduce the amount of material wasted on component creation. In the aerospace industry, for example, the
buy-to-fly (BTF) ratio is the ratio of the mass of the starting billet of material to the mass of the finished part that is flown on the aircraft. The smaller the ratio, the less material is wasted. The BTF ratio for aero engine components can be as high as 25, and WAAM can reduce that ratio to <2. WAAM reduces pre-machining wastage – The
moulds and dies used for forging and casting can have long procurement times and high costs. Due to lead time and design cycle pressures, the purchase of tools can begin before the part’s design has been finalised. To overcome this, many manufacturers add a larger waste envelope into the final geometry of the mould or die, leading to increased levels of material waste to achieve the final product. As WAAM is a digital manufacturing process, it requires no tools – apart from the clamps needed to fix the starting feedstock – so design changes can be made whenever needed, eradicating additional geometry waste. WAAM reduces spare part wastage – For
spare part and inventory management and stockkeeping, there are two types of potential waste: the material itself if it isn’t needed, and the energy embodied into the part. Unused stock can lead to significant financial and material waste. Rather than keeping stock that might not be
needed, more manufacturers are choosing WAAM. This helps them reduce inventory and logistics costs by focusing on local, on-demand manufacture and helps them to resolve spare part production and repair issues, quickly
FEBRUARY 2024 design soLutions 39
can Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) play a part in achieving
this, whilst also ensuring resilience? Dr Filomeno Martina, CEO and co-founder of
WAAM3D explains
and as cost-effectively as possible. WAAM improves environmental performance –
The WAAM process minimises waste, and material-usage for this process is very high at approximately 98%. Because of the material savings achieved using WAAM, a manufacturer’s environmental performance can be improved when it comes to component creation and repair. And WAAM has long been used to repair structures, extending the life of components, and delivering significant energy
and CO2 emission savings. For those manufacturers looking to
demonstrate that they are taking the triple bottom line seriously and to build in more resilience supply chains, metal additive manufacturing – and WAAM in particular – should be an important part of the medium- to large-scale metal component fabrication toolkit.
WAAM3d
www.waam3d.com
Dr Filomeno Martina
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