Evaluating the Cumulative Energy Demand of Additive Manufacturing Using Direct Energy Deposition

Additive manufacturing [AM] is often claimed as an environmentally friendly technology that also offers great potential for the industry. However, material and energy efficiency depend on a large number of influencing factors. Recent studies have focused on the quantitative evaluation of the environmental impact and energy demand of AM processes as well as the investigation of their impact factors. For powder production as well as post-processing there are only few studies available so far. This paper introduces an evaluation model to quantify and analyze the cumulative energy demand [CED] from cradle to gate using direct energy deposition [DED]. During the analysis, the process steps that have a significant impact on the CED are identified. It is observed that the proposed evaluation model is a powerful tool to analyze the energy performance of DED technology