Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)

Lecture 1

Additive Manufacturing
INSY-4970 / INSY-7970

Andres Carrano, Ph.D.

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Definition of Additive Manufacturing (AM)

 Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the process of creating a
physical object through the selective fusion, sintering or
polymerization of materials
ASTM F42 Technical Committee (Short Video)

 Common to all process is that the parts are made by

adding layers.

 Essentially product is “grown

layer by layer”

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Additive Manufacturing
 Additive manufacturing is a way of making 3-D objects by
building up material, layer upon layer, with the guidance of a
digital design.
www.nsf.gov

 As opposed to a removal (subtractive) process such as

machining, where excess material is removed, AM processes
produce very little waste.
 The layer thickness determines how close the part produced
is to the computer model.

Example

Conversion of a solid model of an object into layers

(only one layer is shown)

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Example

Motor base for a reciprocating saw (power tool)

Additive Manufacturing
Other names and connotations:
 Rapid Prototyping.
 Freeform Fabrication
 Solid Freeform Fabrication
 Direct Digital Manufacturing www.plasticstoday.com

 Layer-based Manufacturing

www.mmsonline.com
www.arcam.com

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Video
How 3D Printing Works
(from Shapeways)

Benefits of AM
 Geometric shapes that could not be built any other way

 No need for process planning!

 Regardless of complexity, all parts are built with the same
simple steps.

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Benefits of AM

 Rapid fabrication of parts and

complex components.

 Some assembly (not) required!

Benefits of AM

Fabrication of parts with customized properties

 Parts that are rigid in one direction and compliant in

another.
 Parts with non-uniform density
 Multi-material components
 Parts with non-homogenous material composition
(someday).

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Differences between AM and CNC Machining

Materials

 CNC Machining
 Homogeneous materials
 Mostly brittle metals and alloys
 It can also work with softer materials such as plastic, foams, etc.

 Additive Manufacturing
 Many anysotropic materials.
 Polymer materials
 Waxes
 More recently: metals, composites and ceramics

Differences between AM and CNC Machining

Speed

 CNC Machining
 It can remove materials very quickly – may take seconds or
minutes.
 Needs lengthy setups, and process planning.
 Likely to be a multi-stage manufacturing process
 Finishing may take days or weeks

 Additive Manufacturing
 Likely to take hours
 It can be a single stage manufacturing process
 Finishing may take hours or days

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Differences between AM and CNC Machining

Complexity

 CNC Machining
 It can remove materials very quickly – may take seconds or
minutes.
 Because the spindle principle, complex features may require the
tool to travel to locations that are impossible.
 Needs to break complex parts into components to be later
assembled.

 Additive Manufacturing
 Much higher capabilities especially as complexity increases
 Not hampered by undercuts and internal features

Differences between AM and CNC Machining

Accuracy

 CNC Machining
 Determined by the positioning mechanisms for the three
orthogonal axes.
 Servo or stepper motors

 Additive Manufacturing
 Many machines operate within micrometer level resolution
 Different resolutions for each axis (vertical vs lateral)
 Vertical build axis determines the layer thickness and is of lower
resolution compared to the two axes in the build plane.
 These also determine the minimum feature size.

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University
 Additive Manufacturing (INSY-4970/7970)
Lecture 1

Differences between AM and CNC Machining

Geometry and programming

 CNC Machining
 Surfaces must be generated in 3D space.
 Some geometries are difficult to reproduce with CNC tools
 CNC programming can be complex and takes into account
machine and tool parameters (feeds, speeds, etc)

 Additive Manufacturing
 AM machines break any part into a series of simple 2D cross
sections with nominal thickness.
 Little programming is needed. Skills on solid modeling software
might be sufficient.

Readings
 Read chapter 1 (pages 1-15)

 Read the 3-page document titled “Standard Terminology

for Additive Manufacturing Technologies” published by the
ASTM F42 Technical Committee.

Andres L. Carrano, PhD.

Auburn University