Additive Manufacturing: Environmental Impact, and Future Perspective

Additive manufacturing (AM) are the latest fabrication techniques that has generated interest worldwide. As it allows to design any solid 3D object to be printed using computer-aided design (CAD) and analyzed using CAD. For complex geometries and material combinations, CAD is often further facilitated with high-productivity computing resources. This combination of hardware and software facilitates the manufacturing process to produce anything imaginable. In contrast to subtractive/conventional manufacturing, which creates an object by removing material, additive manufacturing (AM) uses the technique of combining materials, typically layer by layer. While rapid prototyping and end-use product manufacturing are the next steps for additive manufacturing applications, the effects of these manufacturing processes and associated material flows on the environment are yet to be discovered. Along with the energy and resource usage of the AM unit, it's important to consider the effects of producing (powder) materials and finishing parts. From the environmental point of view, it is obvious that the additional effects produced during production should be offset by functional upgrades during the part’s use phase. The continuous growth of the various technologies of AM is an eye-opener for different fields. The technological advancements in AM can be a game changer in many areas like automobile, construction, medical, toy, and also in defense applications. This chapter provides details of the consequences of AM on the environmental and also provides the future prospectives in various industrial sectors.