AM's Progress: How Far Additive Manufacturing Has Come in 6 Years

Editor’s note: For six years, Tim Simpson has written a monthly column appearing in both Modern Machine Shop (MMS) magazine and here on Additive Manufacturing Media. That regular column is ending, and in MMS this installment appears under the title, “A Fond Farewell to My Additive Friends!” We chose a different title here because Tim’s work with us will continue. Listen for him on upcoming episodes of the AM Radio podcast and meet him in person when he leads our Design for Additive Manufacturing track at Formnext Forum Austin.

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and so it is for my column—but not for AM (additive manufacturing) by any means.  If anything, AM is on more solid footing now than it was six years ago when I wrote my first column, and its future looks brighter than ever.

The changes over the last six years have been remarkable. AM systems are bigger and faster, and prices on machines and materials continue to fall.  Reliability and repeatability have improved dramatically given all that has been learned about the process physics underpinning the different technologies. We can now model and simulate AM processes to help optimize process parameters faster and reduce the likelihood of build failures, saving companies hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, during ramp up to additive production.

Meanwhile, interest in topology optimization tools and generative design software continues to increase given the ability to optimize and lightweight components with AM.  Established software providers are investing in their computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools like never before, and dozens of new startups have emerged to provide new design capabilities and tools, many of which have already been acquired and integrated into existing software to improve the digital workflow that underpins AM.

While new software tools for design abound, the future is full of potential for AM materials. As our understanding of the process physics has improved, so has our ability to design and tailor alloys, microstructures and properties to different applications. The ability to process multiple materials at once to vary alloy composition and functionally grade an AM component opens up entirely new realms for designers to engineer superior parts and products. The material freedoms of AM have long been overshadowed by the focus on design freedom, but that is certain to change in the near future.

Standards for AM have also advanced rapidly over the past decade, particularly the last few years—an unexpected benefit for the pandemic lockdown. This is great for companies new to AM, but it is easy to get overwhelmed by all of the options that are now available. Thankfully, ANSI and America Makes are pushing another standards coordination effort to identify gaps and ways to harmonize the plethora of standards that have finally been created in response to the demands from industry. 

In addition to new standards, requirements documents for AM parts have been publicly released for aerospace materials systems by SAE International and for space flight by NASA. These add to the growing body of regulatory policies and guidance documents that have existed in several fields, including the medical industry which embraced AM early. These not only help boost the confidence for companies new to the game but also strengthen the return on investment that many companies have been anxiously awaiting.

While making a compelling business case for AM may still seem far off for many, companies in nearly every industry have found a way to profit from AM, including metals. Medical implants have been transformed by AM, following suit behind hearing aids, aligners and dental implants. The space industry has fully embraced AM and is pushing the boundaries on performance and productivity faster than most people think possible. Meanwhile, legacy parts for automotive, aerospace and defense applications can now be easily replaced, and many supply chain disruptions can be alleviated with AM. In fact, thanks to the resiliency that AM showed during the pandemic, government programs like AM Forward led by ASTRO America are poised to transform the supply chain and help regionalize manufacturing. This is good for the economy and exciting for the workforce, but the fight for talent will only intensify. Companies will need to invest in their people as well as their products and processes; otherwise, the competitive advantage that AM enables will not materialize if the talent is not there to help. 

It is clear that the future of manufacturing will be digital, thanks to AM and other advanced manufacturing technologies that rely so heavily on data. The data being generated during the process is already being harnessed to create “digital twins” that will contribute to the “digital thread” that will tie the “digital workflow” and the “digital factory” together. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are poised to assist and will play a critical role in ensuring part quality as companies shift to production with AM and other digital manufacturing technologies. 

While this may frighten some of you, I believe the future of manufacturing is brighter than ever before, and I think the machining experts and manufacturing professionals are poised to be the digital pioneers of the future. Will you accept the challenge and take the risk? I hope so! 

Thanks all and good luck!