Emerging Manufacturing Technologies Research Articles

A hybrid CAD/CAE/CAM project‐based laboratory framework integrating topology optimization and laser powder bed fusion for engineering education

AbstractIn the era of Industry 4.0, laser‐based additive manufacturing (LBAM) has gained substantial momentum in the production of complex lightweight structures in several domains such as aerospace, civil, and biomedical engineering. The increasing demand for consistent and precise manufacturing processes has urged the manufacturing industry to consider the coupling of topology optimization (TO) and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) in the design of sophisticatedly novel topologies that are unattainable through traditional processes. Notably, this union has demonstrated a highly efficient and productive capability toward the manufacturing industry. In line with this accelerated pace, engineering programs within universities exert significant effort to revise and update their engineering curriculum design to incorporate emerging manufacturing technologies providing students with skills that are aligned with the actual industrial context. In this article, a computer‐aided design (CAD)/computer‐aided engineering (CAE)/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAM) project‐based laboratory framework is proposed combining TO and LPBF exploiting a simulation‐based environment integrating CAD, CAE, and CAM. The structure of the proposed CAD/CAE/CAM design methodology is revisited to discern the added value of the newly developed framework and its particularity in assisting aerospace engineering students to meet industrial expectations. A new CAD/CAE/CAM project‐based laboratory framework has been developed integrating TO and LPBF using advanced engineering tools within the aerospace engineering education.

Nature as a Technological Paradigm: The Case of “Moisture-Responsive Wrinkling Dynamic Footwear”

The forces of nature have shaped the form of matter, and similarly, human creations are also driven by natural forces. This makes biology a key source of inspiration for solving engineering problems. With the rapid advancement of digital and robotic technologies, rapid prototyping technology has made it possible to manufacture complex parts, creating a new body of knowledge and a novel approach to design known as generative design. This paper focuses on applying biology and related life science technologies to the paradigm of generative design and how this paradigm influences the concepts, strategies, and practices in the design field. The article also specifically examines the project “Moisture-Responsive Wrinkling Dynamic Footwear,” a pedagogical design research initiative, demonstrating how it integrates formative design methods based on composite materials, computational strategies, and emerging manufacturing technologies.

Comprehensive review of materials, applications, and future innovations in biodegradable esophageal stents.

Esophageal stricture (ES) results from benign and malignant conditions, such as uncontrolled gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and esophageal neoplasms. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is the preferred diagnostic approach for ES and its underlying causes. Stent insertion using an endoscope is a prevalent method for alleviating or treating ES. Nevertheless, the widely used self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) and self-expandable plastic stents (SEPS) can result in complications such as migration and restenosis. Furthermore, they necessitate secondary extraction in cases of benign esophageal stricture (BES), rendering them unsatisfactory for clinical requirements. Over the past 3decades, significant attention has been devoted to biodegradable materials, including synthetic polyester polymers and magnesium-based alloys, owing to their exceptional biocompatibility and biodegradability while addressing the challenges associated with recurring procedures after BES resolves. Novel esophageal stents have been developed and are undergoing experimental and clinical trials. Drug-eluting stents (DES) with drug-loading and drug-releasing capabilities are currently a research focal point, offering more efficient and precise ES treatments. Functional innovations have been investigated to optimize stent performance, including unidirectional drug-release and anti-migration features. Emerging manufacturing technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) printing and new biodegradable materials such as hydrogels have also contributed to the innovation of esophageal stents. The ultimate objective of the research and development of these materials is their clinical application in the treatment of ES and other benign conditions and the palliative treatment of malignant esophageal stricture (MES). This review aimed to offer a comprehensive overview of current biodegradable esophageal stent materials and their applications, highlight current research limitations and innovations, and offer insights into future development priorities and directions.

Molecular Design of Multifunctional Integrated Polymer Semiconductors with Intrinsic Stretchability, High Mobility, and Intense Luminescence.

Multifunctional semiconductors integrating unique optical, electrical, mechanical, and chemical characteristics are critical to advanced and emerging manufacturing technologies. However, due to the trade-off challenges in design principles, fabrication difficulty, defects in existing materials, etc., realizing multiple functions through multistage manufacturing is quite taxing. Here, an effective molecular design strategy is established to prepare a class of multifunctional integrated polymer semiconductors. The pyridal[1,2,3]triazole-thiophene co-structured tetrapolymers with full-backbone coplanarity and considerable inter/intramolecular noncovalent interactions facilitate short-range order and excellent (re)organization capability of polymer chains, providing stress-dissipation sites in the film state. The regioregular multicomponent conjugated backbones contribute to dense packing, excellent crystallinity, high crack onset strain over 100%, efficient carrier transport with mobilities exceeding 1cm2 V-1 s-1 , and controllable near-infrared luminescence. Furthermore, a homologous blending strategy is proposed to further enhance the color-tunable luminescent properties of polymers while effectively retaining mechanical and electrical properties. The blended system exhibits excellent field-effect mobility (µ) and quantum yield (Φ), reaching a record Φ · µ of 0.43cm2 V-1 s-1 . Overall, the proposed strategy facilitates a rational design of regioregular semicrystalline intrinsically stretchable polymers with high mobility and color-tunable intense luminescence, providing unique possibilities for the development of multifunctional integrated semiconductors in organic optoelectronics.

A Review of Conventional versus Additive Manufacturing for Metals: Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Analysis

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a recent emerging technology that is being adopted in various industry sectors and supply chains. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) are powerful methods that can be used for assessing the environmental and economic performance of emerging manufacturing technologies. This study aims to evaluate the life cycle environmental impacts and cost of computerized numerical control-based (CNC) manufacturing and direct metal laser sintering technology (DMLS) through a cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis. This research has four main novel elements: (i) conducting a recent comprehensive review of metal AM and conventional manufacturing (CM) processes using a systematic method and meta-analysis (ii) comparing the conventional process “CNC machining” and the additive technology “direct metal laser sintering” from the environmental (LCA) and economic (LCC) perspectives, (iii) investigating the influence of geometry complexity and shape size factors on the environmental and cost performance of both manufacturing methods, and (iv) conducting a Monte Carlo simulation-based sensitivity analysis to tackle uncertainty in LCC input parameters. The midpoints and endpoints impact for CNC and AM processes were estimated using the Ecoinvent v3.8 database and ReCiPe (E) impact assessment method. The review revealed that global warming potential is one of the most widely studied environmental indicators; however, only 6% of the studies have investigated the life cycle economic impacts of AM technologies using sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The results have shown that in terms of ReCiPe endpoints, DMLS has the highest environmental impact on human health while CM has more impact on the eco-system quality. Electricity consumption is the main contributor to environmental impact categories in both manufacturing technologies. This is due to the high electricity utilization for casting and milling conventionally manufactured parts and printing the AM parts. LCC net present values revealed that manufacturing all parts with AM costs 91% more compared to CNC. The LCC analysis has shown that AM is more suitable and cost-effective for parts with highly complex geometries. Whereas CNC machining was found to be economically feasible for large-sized and low-complexity parts. The Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis demonstrated that for the case of AM, the most significant parameter is the processing cost followed by material cost, which highlighted the importance of energy-efficient AM and dematerialization through design for circularity.

16th International Conference on the Modelling of Casting, Welding, and Advanced Solidification Processes

Preface The 16th International Conference on the Modelling of Casting, Welding, and Advanced Solidification Processes (MCWASP XVI) was held from June 18 to 23, 2023, in Banff, Canada, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Founded in 1933, the Centre in Treaty 7 Territory within Banff National Park—Canada’s first National Park—is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. The “all-inclusive” nature of the conference and the remote setting meant that participants dined, attended oral and poster presentations, and participated in social activities as a group, fostering outstanding opportunities for networking.Given that the MCWASP community had not met in person since 2015 in Japan (the 2020 edition of MCWASP was virtual owing to COVID-19), the 2023 conference provided the opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones as well as discuss the science of solidification and related processes—all within the backdrop of the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains.The technical program comprised more than 70 oral and poster presentations. In addition to content related to modelling of casting, welding, and advanced solidification processes, keynotes were invited to talk about related subjects (artificial intelligence/machine learning, and permeability modelling in shale rock) as well as the rich diversity of fossils, especially dinosaurs, found in Alberta.The oral technical program was organized with as a single session (i.e., no concurrent presentations). It featured all aspects of solidification modelling, including solidification process technologies (continuous and semi-continuous casting, shape casting, additive manufacturing, and welding), coupled multi-physics simulations, defect formation, fluid flow, micro- and macro-structure formation, numerical methods, and related experimentation, especially in-situ observation of solidification.The four-day technical program was spread over five days to give participants the opportunity to explore the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains.In these proceedings, the papers are organized by major theme. The dominant topics are Additive Manufacturing and Welding and Microstructure Formation, followed by Continuous Casting – Shape Casting, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Alloy Segregation, Defects, Imaging of Solidification, Thermomechanics, and Materials Properties. In these themes, the authors report advances in numerical modelling techniques, new scientific and process developments in solidification, and related in-situ experimentation.Although significant progress has been made over these past 16 MCWASP conferences covering 43 years, it is clear that the complexity of advanced solidification phenomena as related to conventional and emerging manufacturing technologies still attracts a great deal of scientific and industrial interest to support technological innovation. André Phillion Banff, Canada, June 2023MCWASP XVI 2023List of Peer Reviewers, Sponsors, MCWASP XVI Organizers, International Scientific Committee are available in this Pdf.

Preparation, modification, and clinical application of porous tantalum scaffolds.

Porous tantalum (Ta) implants have been developed and clinically applied as high-quality implant biomaterials in the orthopedics field because of their excellent corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, osteointegration, and bone conductivity. Porous Ta allows fine bone ingrowth and new bone formation through the inner space because of its high porosity and interconnected pore structure. It contributes to rapid bone integration and long-term stability of osseointegrated implants. Porous Ta has excellent wetting properties and high surface energy, which facilitate the adhesion, proliferation, and mineralization of osteoblasts. Moreover, porous Ta is superior to classical metallic materials in avoiding the stress shielding effect, minimizing the loss of marginal bone, and improving primary stability because of its low elastic modulus and high friction coefficient. Accordingly, the excellent biological and mechanical properties of porous Ta are primarily responsible for its rising clinical translation trend. Over the past 2decades, advanced fabrication strategies such as emerging manufacturing technologies, surface modification techniques, and patient-oriented designs have remarkably influenced the microstructural characteristic, bioactive performance, and clinical indications of porous Ta scaffolds. The present review offers an overview of the fabrication methods, modification techniques, and orthopedic applications of porous Ta implants.

Hydrogen Bubble Size Distribution on Nanostructured Ni Surfaces: Electrochemically Active Surface Area Versus Wettability.

Emerging manufacturing technologies make it possible to design the morphology of electrocatalysts on the nanoscale in order to improve their efficiency in electrolysis processes. The current work investigates the effects of electrode-attached hydrogen bubbles on the performance of electrodes depending on their surface morphology and wettability. Ni-based electrocatalysts with hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanostructures are manufactured by electrodeposition, and their surface properties are characterized. Despite a considerably larger electrochemically active surface area, electrochemical analysis reveals that the samples with more pronounced hydrophobic properties perform worse at industrially relevant current densities. High-speed imaging shows significantly larger bubble detachment radii with higher hydrophobicity, meaning that the electrode surface area that is blocked by gas is larger than the area gained by nanostructuring. Furthermore, a slight tendency toward bubble size reduction of 7.5% with an increase in the current density is observed in 1 M KOH.

Stress recovery of laminated non-prismatic beams under layerwise traction and body forces

Emerging manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing and additive layer manufacturing, offer scope for making slender heterogeneous structures with complex geometry. Modern applications include tapered sandwich beams employed in the aeronautical industry, wind turbine blades and concrete beams used in construction. It is noteworthy that state-of-the-art closed form solutions for stresses are often excessively simple to be representative of real laminated tapered beams. For example, centroidal variation with respect to the neutral axis is neglected, and the transverse direct stress component is disregarded. Also, non-classical terms arise due to interactions between stiffness and external load distributions. Another drawback is that the external load is assumed to react uniformly through the cross-section in classical beam formulations, which is an inaccurate assumption for slender structures loaded on only a sub-section of the entire cross-section. To address these limitations, a simple and efficient yet accurate analytical stress recovery method is presented for laminated non-prismatic beams with arbitrary cross-sectional shapes under layerwise body forces and traction loads. Moreover, closed-form solutions are deduced for rectangular cross-sections. The proposed method invokes Cauchy stress equilibrium followed by implementing appropriate interfacial boundary conditions. The main novelties comprise the 2D transverse stress field recovery considering centroidal variation with respect to the neutral axis, application of layerwise external loads, and consideration of effects where stiffness and external load distributions differ. A state of plane stress under small linear-elastic strains is assumed, for cases where beam thickness taper is restricted to 15^{circ }. The model is validated by comparison with finite element analysis and relevant analytical formulations.

Additive manufacturing and supply chain configuration: Modelling and performance evaluation

Purpose: the aim of the study is to compare the performance of different supply chain configurations adopting Additive Manufacturing. Five input factors have been varied with the aim of testing the response of the supply chain to different starting conditions. In order to evaluate the supply chain performance, a set of key performance indicators have been identified considering both manufacturing and logistic processes.Design/methodology/approach: A discrete event simulation model has been developed in order to reproduce the behavior of the players according to their role in the supply chain. Different supply chain configurations have been modelled to assess the performance of the solution combined with different input factors. Many scenarios have been tested with the aim of identifying suitable applications of the additive technology.Findings: in general, the decentralized configuration has better logistic performance than the centralized supply chain. In fact, it is more flexible, suitable for high service levels, and less affected by the variability of the demand. However, when the distances among players are very short and the average demand is low, the benefits in adopting a decentralized configuration are very limited.Concerning the performance of the production phase, the centralized structure allows providing a better capacity utilization, exploiting the potential of a High-cost machine with higher production camera volume and speed.Practical implications: the outcomes obtained allow deriving some useful guidelines, which could help practitioners to identify a suitable application of the additive technology.Originality/value: first, the model provides a quantitative evaluation. Moreover, the study analyzes the performance of the additive technology combined with different supply chain configurations. This is a strong point since it is well known that emerging manufacturing technologies can affect the structure and the performance of the whole supply chain.

Aims and criteria for advancing technology management research at the Journal of Operations Management

Aims and criteria for advancing technology management research at the <scp>Journal of Operations Management</scp>

3D printing: Making an innovative technology widely accessible through makerspaces and outsourced services

This paper looks into the emerging trends of makerspaces and outsourced 3D printing services, and examines the natural progression between them. Also, by presenting survey empirical data, it investigates the reasons why individual users and enterprises have started to choose such services and the benefits acquired from this choice, that lead to the promotion of creativity, innovation, and competition. Fundamental working principles both for makerspaces and outsourced 3D printing services are being analyzed. Through the conduction of a survey among two different makerspaces’ users, authors attempt to further clarify the factors that motivate users to choose to participate in makerspaces or use the services offered by an outsourced 3D printing provider. 3D printing technologies have been recognized as being the new industrial revolution. However, because of the nature of the additive manufacturing process, a high level of expertise is required in order to accomplish an acceptable result. The recent proliferation of makerspaces as well as outsourced 3D printing services offers alternative solutions towards overcoming the aforementioned challenges. Makerspaces are currently growing rapidly, aiming to help local communities to get accustomed with emerging manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing, especially in modern STEM educational practices. On the other hand, outsourcing has emerged as one of the top business practices of our time due to its numerous benefits for the companies involved. The paper makes a comparison between makerspaces and outsourced services and presents relevant original survey data from users.

Porous tantalum scaffolds: Fabrication, structure, properties, and orthopedic applications

Porous tantalum scaffolds have been developed and clinically utilized as superior implantable biomaterials for orthopedic applications owing to their exceptional corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, osteointegration, and osteoconductivity. Moreover, the biomimetic porous structure and mechanical properties of these scaffolds match those of human bone tissues. Over the past twenty years, the fabrication, structure and properties optimization, and application expansion of porous tantalum scaffolds have been advanced by emerging manufacturing technologies, characterization methodologies, and clinical utilization strategies. Combining our innovative work and over two hundred extant publications, we overview the fabrication, structure, properties, and orthopedic applications of porous tantalum bone scaffolds. Additive manufacturing has become a powerful and versatile technique for fabricating patient-specific and anatomy-matching porous tantalum bone implants with well-designed architectures. Additively manufactured tantalum scaffolds are deemed as new biomaterials for bone repair, as their microstructures and mechanical properties differ from those of bioimplants fabricated by traditional technologies. To understand the safety and effectiveness of these scaffolds for orthopedic applications, we must undertake basic scientific investigations, in vitro studies, pre-clinical studies, and clinical research. Biomechanical studies and porous structure design based on finite element analysis are additional hot topics in tantalum scaffold research.

Cybersecurity Assurance in the Emerging Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS) Paradigm: A Lesson from the Video Streaming Industry

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak has incapacitated physical supply chains of various industrial sectors. This has been a call for attention to rethinking innovative methods to improve supply chain resilience. Emerging manufacturing technologies like additive/hybrid manufacturing are enabling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to transform into cybermanufacturing kiosks that deliver manufacturing-as-a-service by digitizing much of the manufacturing workflow (design, communication, and manufacturing). This transformation is causing a paradigm shift in which major producers and original equipment manufacturers can outsource manufacturing of components to distributed SMEs located near the point of need. The increasing reliance on a digital thread would reduce the burden of resiliency required from the physical supply chains. Although digital threads are reducing the burden on the physical supply chains, they introduce a new class of cyber-resilience requirements, chiefly in ensuring the integrity of the designs and other intellectual properties shared across the digital thread. A novel design-sharing scheme for the digital thread based on video streaming is introduced herein to address the issue of IP theft and tampering. The potential of design-sharing schemes for the improvement of the cyberresilience of digital supply chains is discussed.

Six-Sigma Quality Management of Additive Manufacturing.

Quality is a key determinant in deploying new processes, products, or services and influences the adoption of emerging manufacturing technologies. The advent of additive manufacturing (AM) as a manufacturing process has the potential to revolutionize a host of enterprise-related functions from production to the supply chain. The unprecedented level of design flexibility and expanded functionality offered by AM, coupled with greatly reduced lead times, can potentially pave the way for mass customization. However, widespread application of AM is currently hampered by technical challenges in process repeatability and quality management. The breakthrough effect of six sigma (6S) has been demonstrated in traditional manufacturing industries (e.g., semiconductor and automotive industries) in the context of quality planning, control, and improvement through the intensive use of data, statistics, and optimization. 6S entails a data-driven DMAIC methodology of five steps-define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Notwithstanding the sustained successes of the 6S knowledge body in a variety of established industries ranging from manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and beyond, there is a dearth of concentrated application of 6S quality management approaches in the context of AM. In this article, we propose to design, develop, and implement the new DMAIC methodology for the 6S quality management of AM. First, we define the specific quality challenges arising from AM layerwise fabrication and mass customization (even one-of-a-kind production). Second, we present a review of AM metrology and sensing techniques, from materials through design, process, and environment, to postbuild inspection. Third, we contextualize a framework for realizing the full potential of data from AM systems and emphasize the need for analytical methods and tools. We propose and delineate the utility of new data-driven analytical methods, including deep learning, machine learning, and network science, to characterize and model the interrelationships between engineering design, machine setting, process variability, and final build quality. Fourth, we present the methodologies of ontology analytics, design of experiments (DOE), and simulation analysis for AM system improvements. In closing, new process control approaches are discussed to optimize the action plans, once an anomaly is detected, with specific consideration of lead time and energy consumption. We posit that this work will catalyze more in-depth investigations and multidisciplinary research efforts to accelerate the application of 6S quality management in AM.

Optimising Process Parameters of Fused Filament Fabrication to Achieve Optimum Tensile Strength

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology is one of the most emerging manufacturing technologies in the current time frame for small scale to complex production compared with conventional methods. AM presents a considerable amount of possibilities, with many areas (aerospace industry, biomedical field, construction & architecture industry, and food industry) for further development and challenges. Predicting the impact of variation in process parameters (layer thickness, orientation, and melting temperature) on a final manufactured product is one of the critical challenges in the domain. The fused filament fabrication process is used for the fabrication of parts, which is highly flexible, robust, and economical. In this work, Taguchi Design of Experiment is used to optimize process parameters for maximizing tensile strength of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic samples. The samples are printed as per the defined ASTM D638 plastic standard. Using Analysis of Variance technique, the obtained experimental results are validated and predicted for the optimum value of tensile strength under defined conditions.

S16-02 SESSION 16: PLANNING/IMAGING – PART II TRANSLATION OF PATIENT UNIQUENESS AND TREATMENT PLAN INTO PRE-SURGICAL PLANNING OF CRANIOPLASTY SURGERY USING WEB ACCESS 3D MODEL-BASED ICT TOOLS

Introduction: Although cranioplasty is considered to be a frequent and straightforward procedure, studies have shown complication rate up to 34%. While cranioplasty with autogenous bone is still regarded as the gold standard to restore cranial vault integrity, there is currently no consensus for the optimal material in the management of cranial defects. Emerging manufacturing technologies and the development of new materials offer an wide range of solutions, yet one can assume that material is chosen in regard of price, lead time, reimbursement policy and medical institutions’ preferences, but rarely according to the initial indication and the expected outcomes for such procedure, which prevent patient-specific devices from achieving large-scale utilization despite their demonstrated superiority over off-the-shelf solutions. It is therefore necessary to promote new approaches, via the development of innovative ICT tools, integrating clinical support during the pre-surgical planning, translating clinical history, treatment plan and follow-up strategy into the design of patient-specific cranial implants to achieve better clinical outcome. Methods: To transform this paradigm nowadays established in cranioplasty surgery, the first open access 3D virtual model-based ICT tools for surgeon-manufacturer communication and pre-surgical planning, serving as patient-specific implant configurator in regard of patient and pathology specificities, has been developed for the management of complex clinical cases. Results: This tool successfully grants the surgeons, via the manipulation of 3D models, the ability to describe in a more natural way, the individual solutions to realize for the treatment of a particular patient. Additionally, the surgeon’s participation in the co-creation and approval processes of the solution is being facilitated by the specification of requirements on virtual models and the systematization of the design features. Along with it, the accumulated experience of the use of patient-specific implants (PSI) is used as a clinical decision support and as a learning tool to create added value not only for patients, but for surgeons and medical institutions as well. Conclusion: This newly developed 3D virtual model-based technology, set as surgeon-manufacturer communication for PSI order and configurator, ensures correct data interpretation, product safety and functionality while taking into account the specificity of one patient for whom the device is prescribed. Those will accelerate the shift of the surgical thought paradigm towards personalized approach and undoubtedly will help achieve better clinical outcome, shorten delivery time and drop the costs of the implants used to manage rare and complex clinical cases.

Diversity in the Barriers to Adoption of Manufacturing-Enabling Technologies: Variations in the Role of Government Fostering Manufacturing Innovation

The introduction of emerging manufacturing technologies is often hindered by a lack of complementary engineering tools. These manufacturing-enabling technologies (MET) help establish robust quality control procedures and accelerate the design and testing phases. Firms innovating the emerging technologies may, however, be reluctant to develop METs on their own, as these technologies may not be part of their core competencies and are hardly appropriable. MET developers may be inhibited by the high levels of technical and market risk. Public policy may play an important role in helping industry overcome those barriers. Although proposed policies to facilitate the adoption of MET should take into account technology-level differences, existing literature often categorizes all of them under the same label. In this paper we unpack the potential differences across MET in terms of their benefits and barriers to industry adoption, how these factors may affect the case for government support, and the implications for the effectiveness of government programs. We use the case of advanced composite materials in aviation to analyze the barriers to adoption across MET, and how these barriers may affect the case for government support. We identify and characterize subcategories of MET which existing literature does not usually distinguish: manufacturing and repair methods; virtual design and modelling tools; quality control and damage evaluation; and material characterization methods. From the comparison across the four families of MET, we propose a framework to help assess the need for government support, depending on the specific barriers to adoption of each specific technology.

Why manufacturers adopt additive manufacturing technologies: The role of sustainability

Emerging manufacturing technologies can affect the performance of manufacturing systems considerably. Hence, a proportionate and purposive choice of such technologies would significantly impact the success of a firm. Additive Manufacturing, a leading and impactful technology, is being implemented in many industrial sectors and for a variety of reasons. It presents huge potential benefits in terms of sustainability perspectives. This paper aims to identify and prioritize the determinants of its adoption as well as to clarify the role of sustainability benefits in the decision to adopt. Then, the research seeks to distinguish the priorities of different application sectors through a multi-stage survey. The results show that environmental sustainability benefits are barely relevant to adoption decisions in practice and this is in contrast with the literature stating the huge sustainability benefits. Moreover, the results prove the pivotal role of economic motives in adoption decisions. The findings also indicate that the capability of additive manufacturing for producing almost any complex design is the key driver of its adoption in all sectors.

Emerging Manufacturing Technologies for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers

Abstract Fuel cells have emerged as viable solutions in areas such as stationary and backup power systems, material handling equipment (MHE), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). Persistent challenges for fuel cells and electrolyzers include high initial cost and the availability of hydrogen infrastructure to support FCEV and MHE fleets. Cost of fuel cells are still high compared to other power generation systems such as diesel and natural gas generators. This, however, can be linked to two facts: first is low production volumes generally and second is emerging manufacturing technologies currently in R&D that need to be scaled up to factory production volumes. This study investigates current manufacturing processes used in production of fuel cells (e.g., spray coating and manual assembly) and emerging manufacturing technologies (e.g., roll-to-roll catalyst coating) to investigate key cost drivers and potential cost reductions in manufacturing of fuel cells and electrolyzers. In particular, we focus on how cost reductions for advance manufacturing technologies may be more significant at scale than existing technologies.