METAL POWDER PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Аннотация

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has attracted significant attention and raised expectations regarding the future production and repair of components, particularly in the aerospace industry. Various techniques have been employed for the deposition      of metal alloys used in the manufacture of components. These technologies offer considerable sustainability benefits, particularly by enabling new opportunities for lightweight design. However, important questions remain regarding the sustainability advantages beyond the use phase of the product. This paper investigates the material and manufacturing life-cycle stages of components produced from INCONEL 718. Energy consumption measurements obtained from the ARCAM A2X Electron Beam Melting (EBM) system are presented and compared with the embodied energy and indirect CO₂ emissions associated with raw material production, as well as with those of conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. The results indicate that both metal powder production and the additive manufacturing process itself contribute significantly to the overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Ashby’s five-step sustainability assessment methodology is also applied to provide a brief discussion of the economic and social implications of additive manufacturing.