Implementing additive manufacturing in microfactories

This thesis presents two technologies with the potential to radically change the way we manufacture, design and recycle products in the future. The two technologies in question are additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing, rapid prototyping, solid freeform manufacturing, and a variety of other names) and the microfactory concept. In this work, the technological basis for both these technologies and their status in industrial manufacturing is briefly examined. The aim of the microfactory concept can be described simply: to miniaturize production equipment to roughly the same size as the product. This reduces the energy consumption and factory floor space of the production process. The benefits of the concept also include faster setup times and improved usability. On the other hand, some barriers also exist, these being mainly the lack of examples and components. TUT’s Department of Production Engineering has been active in the field, demonstrating a modular microfactory concept suitable for a variety of cases. Additive manufacturing, or 3d printing as it is more commonly known, refers to a group of technologies which allow fabricating parts layer-by-layer, eliminating the need for subtractive shaping of the parts. A CAD model is “sliced” so that each cross-sectional slice equals one layer of the part built by the additive manufacturing machine. This allows producing parts with geometries impossible to manufacture using traditional methods, e.g. a sphere within a sphere. In practice, two types of additive manufacturing are happening currently: industrial production, characterized by expensive machines, materials and parts and low volumes, and peer production, in which consumers are purchasing or building their own low-cost machines and producing customized products at home. Some synergies and potential applications for combining the concepts have been found. Additionally, some technical concepts were developed and presented in the thesis. Finally, the validity of these ideas is briefly discussed in the conclusion of the thesis

Implementing additive manufacturing in microfactories

This thesis presents two technologies with the potential to radically change the way we manufacture, design and recycle products in the future. The two technologies in question are additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing, rapid prototyping, solid freeform manufacturing, and a variety of other names) and the microfactory concept. In this work, the technological basis for both these technologies and their status in industrial manufacturing is briefly examined. The aim of the microfactory concept can be described simply: to miniaturize production equipment to roughly the same size as the product. This reduces the energy consumption and factory floor space of the production process. The benefits of the concept also include faster setup times and improved usability. On the other hand, some barriers also exist, these being mainly the lack of examples and components. TUT’s Department of Production Engineering has been active in the field, demonstrating a modular microfactory concept suitable for a variety of cases. Additive manufacturing, or 3d printing as it is more commonly known, refers to a group of technologies which allow fabricating parts layer-by-layer, eliminating the need for subtractive shaping of the parts. A CAD model is “sliced” so that each cross-sectional slice equals one layer of the part built by the additive manufacturing machine. This allows producing parts with geometries impossible to manufacture using traditional methods, e.g. a sphere within a sphere. In practice, two types of additive manufacturing are happening currently: industrial production, characterized by expensive machines, materials and parts and low volumes, and peer production, in which consumers are purchasing or building their own low-cost machines and producing customized products at home. Some synergies and potential applications for combining the concepts have been found. Additionally, some technical concepts were developed and presented in the thesis. Finally, the validity of these ideas is briefly discussed in the conclusion of the thesis