This document discusses how additive manufacturing (AM) and circular design principles can be merged to foster more sustainable production. It provides examples of how AM enables new repair, upgrade, and personalization strategies to prolong product lifetimes. Additionally, the document examines how computational design techniques like topology optimization and generative design can optimize parts for AM processes in ways that improve functionality while reducing material usage.

1. 3D-printing to foster circular design
CIRCULAR SPRINT
Circular/ sustainable design
and Additive Manufacturing
2
What do you know about AM & Circular Design?
ADDITIVE
MANUFACTURING
(AM)
CIRCULAR
DESIGN

2. 3
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3. 5
FIGURE 5-1 Additive manufacturing workflow. SOURCE: Yung C. Shin, Purdue University, presentation to the workshop, adapted from Gao et al. (2015).
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https:/
/www.hubs.com/get/am-technologies/
AM overview

4. 7
Additive manufacturing vs. traditional manufacturing.
Attaran, M. (2017). The rise of 3-D printing: The advantages of additive manufacturing over traditional manufacturing.
Business Horizons, 60(5), 677-688.
AM
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The economics of AM
AM

5. 9
source: https://splash247.com/suez-canal-blocked-by-stranded-evergreen-boxship/
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Where is my customer?
Where do i produce?
Distributed Manufacturing (DM)
AM

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Cradle to Cradle
Circular
Design
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Circular
Design
From: Ellen MacArthur foundation

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Waste hierarchy
Circular
Design
Did i get it right?
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End of ownership?
Circular
Design

8. 15
Merging AM & Circular Design?
ADDITIVE
MANUFACTURING
(AM)
CIRCULAR
DESIGN
LOOKING FOR THE
SWEET SPOT
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Ashby's model of material selection in mechanical engineering
SUBJECT OF
THURSDAY
LECTURE
HOW TO OPTIMIZE
SHAPES FOR AM?
ENERGY & MATERIAL EFFICIENT AM PROCESSES
PRINTING STRATEGIES
STRATEGIES FOR PROLONGED LIFE SPANS
FUNCTIONAL OPTIMIZATION

9. 17
Repair
• Over the past decades product have not exactly become easier to
repair.
Strategies for prolonged life spans
Why would
this be and
how could
AM help
solve this
matter?
Laitala, K., Klepp, I. G., Haugrønning, V., Throne-Holst, H., & Strandbakken, P. (2021). Increasing repair of household appliances,
mobile phones and clothing: Experiences from consumers and the repair industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 282, 125349.
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Repair: so why don’t we repair?
• Too expensive
• Compensate for the inventory cost
• Business model → company prefers
to sell new machines or sell
(expensive) service contracts
• Too difficult
• Products are not designed with
disassembly in mind (riveted/ glued/
welded … connections)
• Many products now contain circuit
boards, many people feel reluctant to
work on these components.
• The product is inherently prone to failure
• People get tired of their products
Strategies for prolonged life spans

10. 19
Repair: how to use AM?
• CORRECT CAD files! If you are a novice designer it is not without risk to design spare parts yourself.
• All components should be structurally safe.
• Simply copying the existing geometry is often unreliable if you change the material. → Use digital
inventories of validated designs.
• Material choice is crucial! In general i would advise NOT to use PLA for applications where the
component is submitted to high mechanical of thermal stress.
• Depending on the AM technology it is absolutely crucial to tune part orientation according the applied
stress.
• Tune slicer settings
• Traceability!
• Reverse engineering vs. collaboration with the (OEM) supplier
Strategies for prolonged life spans
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https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:324241

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Upgrade/ enhance product functionality
• Short development
• Low risk
• Many iterations possible
• Merge the best of both worlds (conventional manufacturing & AM)
Strategies for prolonged life spans
VisoClip and the visoScope
Materialise’s touch-free door handle solution.
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Personalization & Customization
• Strengthen the product - user
relationship → reduced risk of a
product being prematurely discarded.
• Some sources state that this
phenomenon might increase
consumption.
Strategies for prolonged life spans
source: metrology news
Alcaide-Marzal, J., Diego-Mas, J. A., &
Acosta-Zazueta, G. (2020). A 3D shape
generative method for aesthetic product
design. Design Studies, 66, 144-176.

12. 23
DynamiCast by Jack Cockle
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Computational design harvests the raw power of AM.
• Topology optimization
• Generative design = generate a possibility “space”
• Lattice design
• Compliant mechanisms
Functional optimization
3D printed compliant mechanism is part of a NASA satellite
(Source: BYU Compliant Mechanisms Research)
https://hpi.de/baudisch/projects/metamaterial-mechanisms.html

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Topology optimization
..an algorithm is used to minimize
some chosen objective function
subject to several constraints. For
example, minimizing the weight
of a structural bracket subject to
constraints including stress,
deflection, or overhang angles (in
the case of additive
manufacturing).
https://ntopology.com/blog/2019/04/25/topology-optimization-in-a-world-of-fields-and-implicit-geometry/
Meng, et al. 2020. From topology optimization design to additive manufacturing: today’s success and tomorrow’s
roadmap. Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, 27(3), pp.805-830.
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Generative design
= generate a possibility “space”
Exploration of design options which
fulfill a defined design space
“Currently CAD is computer aided
design, where the human does 90% of
the work, and the software documents
it. What if we could flip that so that the
human does 10% of the work, and the
time consuming manual design creation
and drafting is done for them?”
https://3dprint.com/250622/interview-with-autodesks-peter-rogers-on-generative-design-and-the-future-of-additive/

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Lazarov, B.S., Sigmund, O., Meyer, K.E. and Alexandersen, J., 2018. Experimental validation of additively manufactured optimized shapes for passive
cooling. Applied energy, 226, pp.330-339.
Lattice and topology optimization design - heat sinks
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Lung-inspired heat exchanger >>>
The GE lung-inspired 3D printed heat exchanger,
designed by scientist Dan Erno, does something
similar to our lungs. It takes hot airflow that comes
out of the gas turbine and splits and recombines it
continuously into a trifurcating network of ducts,
each less than 2.5 millimeters in diameter, that are
interlaced with another network of channels filled
with the colder working fluid (in this case,
supercritical CO2) that runs in the opposite direction.
Biomimicry
https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/lung-inspired-3d-printed-heat-exchanger/
du Plessis, et al., 2019. Beautiful and functional: a review of biomimetic design in additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing, 27, pp.408-427.

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AM processes are often energy consuming due to:
• Phase change of materials (polymerisation/
melting/ binder deposition/ …)
• Heated build environment
• Power for machine controls and motors
• …
Gutierrez-Osorio et Al. studied the energy
consumption of Material Jetting, Vat polymerisation &
Material extrusion. Important conclusions
• Different AM processes can produce parts with
similar mechanical properties
• It is therefore possible to select a technology
based on the energy consumption.
AM and energy consumption
Regions of specific energy consumption for ME, VP, and MJ
Gutierrez-Osorio, A. H., Ruiz-Huerta, L., Caballero-Ruiz, A., Siller, H. R., &
Borja, V. (2019). Energy consumption analysis for additive manufacturing
processes. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology, 105(1), 1735-1743.
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Various studies on energy consumption in metal AM
states that
• the energy beam is the most energy consuming
unit of the EBM system
• layer thickness and part orientation should be
optimized to minimize energy consumption
• the build volume should be optimized
• Geometry complexity has a greater influence on
energy demand in machining than that AM
AM and energy consumption

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Adaptive layer heights
Optimized AM strategies
https://raise3d.com.my/ideamaker/adaptive-layer-height-speed-quality-combined-1/
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Planar vs. non - planar printing
Optimized AM strategies
https://xyzdims.com/2021/03/14/3d-printing-multi-axis-printing-overhangs/
Avoid support structures
→ reduce waste
Align filaments allong the
direction of stress

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Continuous Fiber Non-Planar 3D Printing
Optimized AM strategies
https://www.designconsulting.com.au/2021/05/17/3d-printing-non-planar-continuous-fiber-reinf
orced-composites/
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Printing on substrates
Hybrid manufacturing strategies
Repairbot Swinburn
https://3dprint.com/73830/3d-printing-on-inflatable/

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Print & adjust/ patch
Hybrid manufacturing strategies
Diabase H5: 3D Printing and CNC Milling
using Rotary + Rotary + Print Bed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Egq0
aMHxs https://hpi.de/baudisch/home.html
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