Design Principle for Additive Manufacturing: Direct Metal Sintering

Additive Manufacturing (AM) brought new design possibilities and freedom to the product design process. However, as the existing design rules and design limitations do not apply to the AM, designers require new methods and tools to utilise the full potential of AM. The stated is especially noticeable in the design of metal products made with AM, particularly with the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process. The research proposes a methodological approach for analysing the existing DMLS products made with DMLS to extract design knowledge. The methodology is applied to the pool of DMLS from which 15 design principles are extracted that formalise design knowledge about DMLS. The design principles are intended to be used in the early design stages of the design process as a source of design knowledge and inspiration for conceptualising new and innovative products that will be made using DMLS.