Energy Consumption Model for Additive-Subtractive Manufacturing Processes with Case Study

Abstract

There has been a growing trend in industry towards the development of integrated manufacturing centers that combine several manufacturing processes, such as the mill-turn center. As additive manufacturing becomes a more widely adopted technology, combining additive with subtractive manufacturing in one machine is a logical evolution to provide the benefits of final parts made from raw materials with the dimensional tolerance and surface finish expected in many applications. An energy consumption model was created that accounted for the energy consumption during primary metal production, deposition, and machining phases of wire-based and powder-based additive-subtractive manufacturing processes. This model was applied to a case study where the energy consumption to produce sub-sized, sheet type, and plate type (size) tensile bars was calculated. It was found that the wire-based process consumed less energy during deposition, whereas powder-based was less energy consumptive during primary metal production and machining. The findings suggest that given the present understanding of the respective technologies’ capabilities, the desired final net shape will dictate the preferred manufacturing process with respect to energy consumption considerations.