Additive manufacturing cost analysis compared to conventional production methods

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has been identified as a technology that could revolutionize the production processes and change currently employed production strategies. However, additive manufacturing is still mainly used in the production of prototypes, in which high flexibility and low costs for specific tooling are required. The trend is that the additive manufacturing gradually becomes part of the production processes for final products as it reaches higher levels of quality, such as dimensional accuracy, finishing and tolerances, besides lower production costs, moving closer to those existing in the large-scale production. In this scenario, this paper aims to analyze and compare costs for a standard piece produced by additive manufacturing and conventional production methods, analyzing the feasibility of implementing the technology as an essential part of production processes. This research also provides the establishment of a standard piece, its design features and typical production volumes - from which periodic analysis should be conducted to evaluate costs, given the increasing scale and the learning curve consolidation in the production of additive manufacturing equipment.