FOCUS ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Material and regional insights
AM parts at BMW .
“ The metal segment accounted for a revenue share of more than 50 %. Looking forward , the metal segment is anticipated to continue dominating the market and expand at the highest CAGR of more than 21 % over the forecast period . Based on material , the market has been further segmented into polymer , metal and ceramic . The polymer segment accounted for the second-largest revenue share in 2021 . On the other hand , the ceramic segment is poised for significant growth over the forecast period ,” continued Grand View Research .
North America accounted for a revenue share of more than 34 %. Europe emerged as the second-largest regional market .
“ Asia Pacific is poised for remarkable growth . The regional market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period . The growth of the regional market can be attributed particularly to the continued developments and upgrades being pursued by incumbents of the manufacturing industry across the region . Asia Pacific is emerging as a manufacturing hub for the automotive , healthcare and consumer electronics industries . Rapid urbanisation is also expected to play a vital role in driving the adoption of three-dimensional printing across the region over the forecast period ,” added the analyst .
In conclusion
Additive manufacturing has many advantages such as flexible design , a faster production cycle , a slower resource requirement and substantial savings on tooling over manufacturing technologies such as vacuum casting , CNC machining and injection moulding . AM provides design freedom to experiment with more effective and efficient part shapes , with fewer potential points of failure .
AM hardware and materials are advancing rapidly , and cost per part is continuing to fall , opening a more comprehensive range of low- to mid-volume applications . Leading manufacturers are leveraging additive manufacturing to save money , shorten lead times , solve complex problems and improve processes from prototyping to production .
AM changes the relationship of scale to production cost . With AM , components can be produced with individual customisations that would be unrealistic with traditional techniques . Prototyping and rapid iteration is now possible without retooling or making new dies .
The technology allows for highly complex structures which can still be extremely light and stable . It provides a high degree of design freedom , the optimisation and integration of functional features , the manufacture of small
3D-printed parts ( image : Shutterstock . com ).
batch sizes at reasonable unit costs and a high degree of product customisation , even in serial production .
“ AM marks an inflection point in manufacturing that allows previously impossible structures to be produced . If you can design it , you can print it . What was once a physical inventory can now become a digital library , bringing a radically more efficient logic to logistics and eliminating multiple links in the supply chain , such as packaging , warehousing and transport . Moreover , as an additive process , where only the exact amount of required raw materials are used , AM makes waste a thing of the past . Just imagine what this can do for performance throughout all industries as well as what it means for our planet in the long run ,” commented additive specialist , Sandvik .
“ In additive manufacturing , a complex design is often as easy to produce as a simple one . This means designers can use geometry , rather than bulk , to achieve structural strength with less weight . It ’ s also ideal for components where complex inner shapes – curved channels for instance – can provide new functionalities and efficiencies ,” it added .
The strengths of additive manufacturing lie in those areas where conventional manufacturing reaches its limitations . The technology is of interest where a new approach to design and manufacturing is required to come up with solutions . It enables a design-driven manufacturing process - where design determines production and not the other way around . n
24 | www . ismr . net | ISMR July / August 2022