Evaluation and Assessment of Additive Manufacturing Processes Based on the Least Energy Demand in Application for Sustainable Production

Abstract

This paper presents the Least Energy Demand as an independent reference value for evaluating energy efficiency of additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Nowadays an essential challenge is represented by a proper evaluation and calculation of the energy efficiency of production processes. The reason for this is the lack of appropriate reference values. A comprehensive comparison of the energy efficiency is not possible without consistent reference values. However, this comparison serves as a first step towards the goal in order to reveal the actual energy savings potential of additive manufacturing procedures and to take actions on this basis. Therefore, the first step is to define the general concept, which is used for the calculation of the Least Energy Demand. Moreover, the unit operation-specific Least Energy Demand EGM is introduced based on unit operations. In conclusion, the importance of EGM as a reference value for evaluating the energy efficiency of production processes, defined in DIN 8580, is explained. Within the scope of an application of the illustrated concept the Least Energy Demand and the Relative Energy Efficiency (REE) are calculated using the example of a selective laser melting process.