Print Email Facebook Twitter Life Cycle Assessment of Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing compared to green sand casting and CNC milling in stainless steel Title Life Cycle Assessment of Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing compared to green sand casting and CNC milling in stainless steel Author Bekker, A.C.M. (TU Delft Materials and Manufacturing) Verlinden, J.C. (TU Delft Materials and Manufacturing) Date 2018 Abstract Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is a metal 3D printing technique based on robotic welding. This technique yields potential in decreasing material consumption due to its high material efficiency and freedom of shape. Empirical measurements of WAAM, using a deposition rate of 1 kg/h, were performed on site of MX3D. The measured power consumption per kg stainless steel is 2.72 kW, of which 1.74 is consumed by the welder, 0.44 by the robotic arm, and 0.54 by the ventilation. The material loss was 1.1%. A 98% argon 2% CO2 welding gas was used with a flow of 12 l/min.A cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed. To give this assessment context, green sand casting and CNC milling were additionally assessed, through literature and databases. The purpose of this study is to develop insight into the environmental impact of WAAM. Results indicate that, in terms of total ReCiPe endpoints, the environmental impact of producing a kg of stainless steel 308 l product using WAAM is comparable to green sand casting. It equals CNC milling with a material utilization fraction of 0.75. Stainless steel is the main cause of environmental damage in all three techniques, emphasizing the importance of WAAM's mass reduction potential. When environmentally comparing the three techniques for fulfilling a certain function, optimized designs should be introduced for each manufacturing technique. Results can vary significantly based on product shape, function, materials, and process settings. Subject LCAAdditive manufacturingWire + arc additive manufacturingMetal 3D printingEnvironmental impact To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f04294f9-692b-4638-bbe2-a5ddb0b6a393 DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.148 Embargo date 2020-01-03 ISSN 0959-6526 Source Journal of Cleaner Production, 177, 438-447 Bibliographical note Accepted author manuscript Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2018 A.C.M. Bekker, J.C. Verlinden Files PDF AcceptedManuscript_LCA_WA ... linden.pdf 1.24 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:f04294f9-692b-4638-bbe2-a5ddb0b6a393/datastream/OBJ/view