Crossbench and Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing Processes in Strategy of Sustainable and Energy Efficient Production

This paper presents the Least Energy Demand as an independent reference value for evaluating energy efficiency of additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Nowadays an essential challenge is represented by a proper evaluation and calculation of the energy efficiency of production processes. The reason for this is the lack of appropriate reference values. A comprehensive comparison of the energy efficiency is not possible without consistent reference values. However, this comparison serves as a first step towards the goal in order to reveal the actual energy savings potential of additive manufacturing procedures and to take actions on this basis. Therefore, as a first step the basic concept of the additive manufacturing principle is introduced. Subsequent the scope of the current research regarding the considered additive manufacturing techniques is illustrated. Afterwards the general system of the Least Energy Demand is presented, which serves the needs in terms of evaluating the energy efficiency of additive manufacturing processes. To sustain the comparability of the Least Energy Demand between the presented AM-procedures a solid basis for further calculations is established. Finally this paper concludes with the results of the calculated Least Energy Demands for the individual additive manufacturing processes and a comprehensive energetic comparison.