Framework to Assess Applicability of 3D Printing in Manufacturing

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Framework to Assess Applicability of 3D Printing in Manufacturing"

Cathleen Lyons
6 years ago
Views:

1 Egieerig ad Idustrial Services Framework to Assess Applicability of 3D Pritig i Maufacturig Abstract 3D pritig has bee hailed as a game chager i the maufacturig sector, with major imprits across multiple domais. Players from several idustries are ivestig heavily i 3D pritig, with the possibility of extedig its applicability to daily use products comig to the fore. With speculatio ad limited iformatio blurrig the lie betwee reality ad fictio, it is critical to aalyze the key challeges to adopt 3D pritig techology. A comprehesive framework ca help curret or potetial users of this techology uderstad 3D pritig ad take a iformed decisio o its applicability as a alterate maufacturig process, especially for egieered products ad compoets for Idustrial use.

2 Egieerig ad Idustrial Services CFM, a GE-Secma joit veture, recetly tested a jet egie with ozzles made from a special ceramic composite that ca be 3D prited. Much lighter tha the previously used ickel based oes, these ew ozzles save close to US $1 millio worth of fuel aually, per plae.¹ Itroductio to 3D Pritig May forms of commercially active additive maufacturig processes are used by idustries today. Though additive maufacturig has bee aroud sice the eighties, recet developmets i the machie ad material capabilities of these processes have spurred the imagiatio of idustry players ad observers about the future possibilities of 3D pritig. Almost all of the additive maufacturig processes use a 3D computer-aided desig (CAD) model as a iput that is exported ito 'slicig software' i the form of a StereoLithography (STL) file. The slicig software the slices the CAD model ito thi slices alog the height of the built part or assembly. The sliced data is set to the 3D priter that builds the part by each slice or layer. Broadly, these processes are popularly kow as 3D pritig. Curret 3D Pritig Limitatios ad Challeges 3D pritig was iitially coceived to verify or validate products early i the coceptualizatio ad egieerig phases. It has ow matured ito a alterate form of maufacturig, though with certai limitatios. Some of the commercially active 3D pritig techiques such as Fused Depositio Modelig (FDM), PolyJet 3D pritig, Stereo Lithography Apparatus (SLA), Direct Metal Laser Siterig (DMLS), Electro Beam Meltig (EBM) ad Selective Laser Meltig (SLM) cover a wide rage of materials. However, it is still ot as exhaustive as the uiverse of materials 2 available for traditioal maufacturig techiques. The limited rage of materials that ca be 3D prited is oe of the biggest challeges. Sigificat research is beig carried out to overcome this limitatio, with efforts directed at eve icludig biomaterials for pritig food, tissues, ad orgas for trasplats ad drug testig. Oe of the advatages of 3D pritig is the cosolidatio of geometry or parts, without much of the maufacturig limitatios. The flip side of this is the lack of flexibility i the repair or maiteace of idividual parts ad assemblies. It should also be remembered that some assemblies of parts require relative motio betwee the compoets such as gears ad pulleys, ad this is ot always possible to achieve oce the parts are itegrated.

3 Egieerig ad Idustrial Services From a assurace perspective, we too eed to go the extra mile to assure Big Data quality. While we have well-defied, timetested assurace ad testig strategies for data warehousig, these traditioal approaches, whe directly applied to Big Data could result i compellig isights that are outright wrog! Hece, these poits have to be carefully addressed before idetifyig 3D pritig as the maufacturig process of choice. 3D priters also have job-size limitatios. Also, most 3D pritig processes today caot produce excellet surface fiishes. I most cases, some secodary fiishig operatios are ecessary to get the required surface fiish. Aother big challege with 3D pritig is the lack of a regulatory framework to protect itellectual property ad cotrol the pritig of uregulated medical devices ad surgical equipmet. Although 3D pritig is becomig popular, the high capital ad operatig costs of 3D pritig are still a deterret for high volume productio with the techology available today. Leveragig a Framework to Determie Eligibility for 3D Pritig The framework eeds to be based o first idetifyig key parameters that ifluece the decisio-makig process. The parameters may also be customized for a particular applicatio or product. Each of these parameters ca be assiged a importace ratig either relative or arrived at by paired compariso usig a predetermied miimum poit method. The summatio of all such scores o a weighted average basis idicates the potetial for 3D pritig of that part or assembly. Such a framework offers may advatages: Helps select the right part to leverage the beefits of 3D pritig Helps arrow dow o the ideal 3D Pritig process for the qualified parts Eables early elimiatio of ufit parts Reduces subjectivity by usig paired compariso of attributes Esures faster assessmets Reduces depedecy o 3D pritig vedors, eablig ubiased ad eutral qualificatio Eables idetificatio of more items that may be 3D prited ad persoalized

4 Egieerig ad Idustrial Services The schematic of such a framework is show i the below figure Customizable assessmet attributes Prelimiary GO/NO GO assessmet for early elimiatio of ufit parts Techically Qualifies for 3D Pritig Not the best cadidate for 3D Pritig but scope for redesig for 3D Pritig. Not suitable for 3D Pritig, with the curret state of art Automated compariso of attributes for weightage Re desig for 3D Pritig Decisio matrix based evaluatio Amber Red Assessmet Score Red/Amber/ Gree Assessmet Stops AM Process Selectio/ List of suitable AM processes Gree Coclusio As the lies betwee traditioal maufacturig methods ad 3D pritig methods blur, it is very importat to have a clear framework for qualifyig compoets or products that ca be maufactured usig 3D pritig techiques. This framework should also be dyamically updated to be i syc with the latest developmets i 3D pritig processes. A comprehesive assessmet framework ca ope up more possibilities for 3D pritig ad, at the same time, scree products ad parts for 3D pritig ad moitor developmets i the field. Refereces [1] 3D Pritig Idustry, Ca 3D Prited Jet Egie Parts Save Us from Global Warmig? (May 31, 2013), accessed April, 2014, [2] Stratasys, Materials: Explore the Widest Rage of Materials i the 3D Pritig World, accessed April, 2014, Systems, accessed April, 2014, accessed April, 2014,

5 Egieerig ad Idustrial Services About The Authors Sukhdev Balaji Sukhdev has over 24 years of experiece i New Product Itroductio i the cosumer electroics, cosumer goods, medical devices ad automotive space. He curretly heads the 3D Pritig Solutios Ceter of Excellece at TCS' Egieerig ad Idustrial Services Uit, offerig thought leadership, advisory support, ad sharig best practices with cliets. Thaga Jawahar Jawahar is the Global Head - Egieerig ad Idustrial Services Uit at TCS. He has over 27 years of experiece that spas maufacturig techology maagemet, CAD/CAM, ad the maagemet of a fuctioal uit. About TCS' Egieerig ad Idustrial Services For over two decades, TCS has offered breakthrough egieerig ad maufacturig solutios to global eterprises from discrete ad process idustry sectors. Desiged to foster product iovatio, improve operatioal efficiecies, ad accelerate the time to market, our solutios are differetiated by our customer-cetric, process-drive approach. TCS' superior iovatio ecosystem, ad wide-ragig ivestmets i areas like the Iteret of Thigs ad Idustry 4.0 eable us to holistically support our cliets i successfully meetig marketplace requiremets. Our itegrated solutios ad services portfolio provides ed-to-ed coverage for the egieerig lifecycle 'cocept to prototype', 'prototype to productio', ad 'productio to service'. With vast domai kowledge ad techology expertise, TCS helps global automotive, aerospace, idustrial machiery, high tech, eergy, utilities, life scieces, retail, ad cosumer product goods (CPG) compaies achieve egieerig ad operatioal excellece. TCS has bee amed the 'Most Established Egieerig Service Provider' i Ziov's GSPR 2015 report. We have bee positioed i the 'Wier's Circle' by HfS Research i its 2015 Egieerig Report, ad as a Leadig Global Service Provider of Egieerig Services by the ARC Advisory Group. TCS also raks amog CIMData's ad IDC's Global Top 5 PLM System Itegrators. Cotact Visit TCS Egieerig ad Idustrial Services uit page for more iformatio eis.marketig@tcs.com Arockiam Daiel Daiel has over 18 years of experiece i the desig ad maufacturig of a wide rage of products from automotive to idustrial applicatios. He is the Focus Area Lead for NextGe Desig Egieerig at TCS. Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: Feedburer: About Tata Cosultacy Services Ltd (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled, ifrastructure, egieerig ad assurace services. This is TM delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery Model, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. For more iformatio, visit us at All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2016 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 12 I 16

Autonomous Swarms in Active Services

Autonomous Swarms in Active Services Autoomous Swarms i Active Services Abstract Robotics has evolved across multiple idustry segmets, from maufacturig to advaced techology, surveillace, ad disaster maagemet. Typically, robotics-drive processes