Now that metal additive manufacturing (MAM), also known as “metal 3D printing,” has seen its first successful implementations across the mobility industry, the question is whether it will continue to grow beyond these initial applications or remain a niche manufacturing process. Moving to broader applications will require overcoming several barriers, namely cost and rate, size, and criticality limitations. Recent progress in MAM indicates that these barriers are beginning to come down, pointing to continued growth in applications for MAM through the end of the decade and beyond. Metal Additive Manufacturing in the Mobility Industry: Looking into 2033 discusses the obstacles to future MAM growth, how they can be conquered, and what its role in the mobility industry will look like in 2033. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2023022

As metal additive manufacturing (MAM), also known as "metal 3D printing,” moves from prototype to low-rate and high-rate production for increasingly critical applications for more industries, many product teams are tasked with determining design properties for the first time in many years. Not only is it necessary to determine basic material properties, but it is also necessary to accommodate new geometries and design concepts as well. While some of the methods and approaches are common to other product forms, others are unique to MAM. Determining Design Properties for Metal Additive Manufacturing in the Mobility Industry covers the challenges in determining design properties and provides a comparison with existing technologies, along with an example and recommendations for future work. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio.. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2023004

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as “3D printing,” is often touted as a sustainable technology, especially for metal components, since it produces either net or near-net shapes versus traditionally machined pieces from larger mill products. While traditional machining from mill products is often the case in aerospace, most of the metal parts used in the world are made from flat-rolled metal and are quite efficient in utilization. Additionally, some aspects of the AM value chain are often not accounted for when determining sustainability. Unsettled Issues in Additive Manufacturing and Improved Sustainability in the Mobility Industry uses a set of scenarios to compare the sustainability of parts made using additive and conventional technologies for both the present and future (2040) states of manufacturing. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2021015

In the early days, there were significant limitations to the build size of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) machines. However, machine builders have addressed that drawback by introducing larger L-PBF machines with expansive build volumes. As these machines grow, their size capability approaches that of directed energy deposition (DED) machines. Concurrently, DED machines have gained additional axes of motion which enable increasingly complex part geometries—resulting in near-overlap in capabilities at the large end of the L-PBF build size. Additionally, competing technologies, such as binder jet AM and metal material extrusion, have also increased in capability, albeit with different starting points. As a result, the lines of demarcation between different processes are becoming blurred. Internal Boundaries of Metal Additive Manufacturing: Future Process Selection examines the overlap between three prominent powder-based technologies and outlines an approach that a product team can follow to determine the most appropriate process for current and future applications. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2022006

METAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING A comprehensive review of additive manufacturing processes for metallic structures Additive Manufacturing (AM)—also commonly referred to as 3D printing—builds three-dimensional objects by adding materials layer by layer. Recent years have seen unprecedented investment in additive manufacturing research and development by governments and corporations worldwide. This technology has the potential to replace many conventional manufacturing processes, enable the development of new industry practices, and transform the entire manufacturing enterprise. Metal Additive Manufacturing provides an up-to-date review of all essential physics of metal additive manufacturing techniques with emphasis on both laser-based and non-laser-based additive manufacturing processes. This comprehensive volume covers fundamental processes and equipment, governing physics and modelling, design and topology optimization, and more. The text adresses introductory, intermediate, and advanced topics ranging from basic additive manufacturing process classification to practical and material design aspects of additive manufacturability. Written by a panel of expert authors in the field, this authoritative resource: Provides a thorough analysis of AM processes and their theoretical foundations Explains the classification, advantages, and applications of AM processes Describes the equipment required for different AM processes for metallic structures, including laser technologies, positioning devices, feeder and spreader mechanisms, and CAD software Discusses the opportunities, challenges, and current and emerging trends within the field Covers practical considerations, including design for AM, safety, quality assurance, automation, and real-time control of AM processes Includes illustrative cases studies and numerous figures and tables Featuring material drawn from the lead author’s research and professional experience on laser additive manufacturing, Metal Additive Manufacturing is an important source for manufacturing professionals, research and development engineers in the additive industry, and students and researchers involved in mechanical, mechatronics, automatic control, and materials engineering and science.

Depending on the industry and application, views on additive manufacturing (AM), or “3D printing,” range from something that will transform an industry to it being another overhyped technology that will only find niche applications. Most views fall somewhere in between, with the most common one being that it depends on the application and technology. Because of the ability to directly produce parts from a digital file, views often include dependence on when and where the part is needed. This introduces the crux of the matter, which is how to determine when the use of AM is feasible and desirable, which is made all the more complicated by the fact that not only is AM technology in general changing quickly, but also the merits of the each AM technology relative to the others are also changing. Finally, non-AM technologies are continually improving and are increasingly adding AM-like capability. As the opening report of a six-part series of SAE EDGE™ Research Reports on AM, this paper discusses unsettled issues pertaining to the benefits, drawbacks, and trade-offs, as well as the decision-making processes to be followed in determining the feasibility and desirability of using AM. NOTE: SAE EDGE™ Research Reports are intended to identify and illuminate key issues in emerging, but still unsettled, technologies of interest to the mobility industry. The goal of SAE EDGE™ Research Reports is to stimulate discussion and work in the hope of promoting and speeding resolution of identified issues. SAE EDGE™ Research Reports are not intended to resolve the challenges they identify or close any topic to further scrutiny. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2020009

An oft-cited benefit of additive manufacturing (AM), or “3D-printing,” technology is the ability to produce parts at the point of use by downloading a digital file and making the part at a local printer. This has the potential to greatly compress supply chains, lead times, inventories, and design iterations for custom parts. As a result of this, both manufacturing and logistics companies are investigating and investing in AM capacity for production at the point of use. However, it can be imagined that the feasibility and benefits are a function of size, materials, build time, manufacturing complexity, cost, and competing technologies. Because of this, there are instances where the viability of point-of-use manufacturing ranges from the perfect solution to the worst possible choice. Unsettled Topics on the Benefits of Additive Manufacturing for Production at the Point of Use in the Mobility Industry discusses the benefits, challenges, trade-offs, and other determining factors regarding this new level of AM possibilities. Click here to access The Mobility Frontier: Metals, Polymers, or Composites Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2021006