The Development of A Time and Energy Consumption Knowledge Base of Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

This case study examines the process of 3D Printing and analyzes possible correlations between printing variables, and the economics of printing process. In manufacturing, there are three primary variables: energy, material consumption, and time. In order to quantify energy costs, the power consumption of the printer was measured on a Kill A Watt power logger. To calculate power consumption, initial power readings were compared with the final power readings, and the total power consumed during the printing process was the average of the two values. The parameters that were varied to quantify the material consumption were number of perimeter layers (1, 3, 5), layer height (0.1, 0.2, 0.3), infill percentage (0 25 50 75). Print times were measured outside the slicer software to improve accuracy, and turnover time is one of the most important factors when utilizing Additive Manufacturing (AM). By 3D Printing affords companies the opportunity to rapidly prototype and manufacturing highly customizable parts, this case study aims to quantify some of the most important characteristics attributed to AM.