In recent years, the scientific literature on additive manufacturing has increased exponentially, as shown in Figure 1.
2. Metal Additive Manufacturing Technologies and Symmetry Concept
2.1. Classification of Metal Additive Manufacturing
Within additive manufacturing, each type of technology consists of a particular combination of an energy source, filler material format, and specific machine kinematics, making each suitable for a given application, as can be seen in
Figure 2. According to the standard terminology created by ASTM (ASTM F2792), additive manufacturing technologies are classified into seven categories
[21], with the first four being usable for the manufacture of components in metallic materials
[22]:
Figure 2. Illustrative scheme of the selection of additive manufacturing technologies of interest according to technical parameters.
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Powder bed technologies (power bed fusion, PBF)
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Binder jetting (BJ)
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Sheet lamination (SL)
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Directed energy deposition (DED)
-
Material extrusion (ME)
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Material jetting (MJ)
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Stereolithography (vat photopolymerization, VP).
Regarding metal materials, there is a wide variety of traditional manufacturing techniques. Among the most common are casting, forging, and machining, and these remain the mainstays of the metal industry worldwide. In contrast, additive manufacturing in these materials is relatively new (since the 1980s) and offers a number of automated techniques based on layer-by-layer production. Initially, additive manufacturing in metals was only developed for rapid prototyping; however, these additive techniques are being driven by the demand for the manufacture of real engineering components having low to medium volumes and with improved environmental and economic characteristics.
Additive manufacturing processes based on metallic materials enable large material and energy savings, reducing the cost and environmental impact of manufacturing various components. Moreover, these techniques can be used to manufacture parts with complex geometries (not possible with traditional manufacturing techniques) and even to repair parts with high added value. In this way, parts with high geometric accuracy can be obtained while maintaining adequate mechanical properties.
2.1.1. Powder Bed Technologies (Power Bed Fusion, PBF)
These are methods that start from powder material and consolidate it layer by layer with the idea of generating a 3D part. In general, the basic principle of these technologies is that thermal energy provided by an energy source (a laser beam or electron beam) fuses or sinters selective regions of a powder bed. During the process, the first layer of powder is first spread on the manufacturing platform by a roller and scanned using the energy source, causing the powder particles to solidify according to the geometry of the part to be manufactured in that layer
[23]. The manufacturing platform is then lowered by the thickness of one layer and another layer of powder is spread on top. This process is repeated until the object is completely fabricated
[24]. Once the part is finished, it is removed from the powder bed and the necessary post-processing is applied.
In addition, operating costs are comparatively high in these technologies due to high raw material and machine costs, metal powder recycling problems, difficult material changeovers, the presence of inert gas, and safety requirements of the facilities. Another main feature of these processes is that the technology is often in the hands of the major machine manufacturers (EOS, GE Additive, Renishaw, SLM solutions, etc.) and a closed solution is offered, where the user not only receives the machine, but also the material, technology, software, etc.
[25].
PBF technology includes different processes for metallic materials, such as selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM). The SLM and EBM processes have similar working principles: both melt the powder layer by layer through a laser or an electron beam, respectively. In addition, EBM needs a vacuum chamber to work and SLM can only be applied in protected atmospheres
[26].
2.1.2. Binder Jetting (BJ)
The binder jetting process uses two materials: a powder material and a binder. The printing process consists mainly of spraying the liquid binder onto the powder bed. For this, the printhead moves horizontally describing the geometrical shape of the part to be manufactured and the binder acts as an adhesive between the powder layers. Afterwards, the build platform is lowered by the thickness of a layer as in the PBF process.
The next layer of powder is spread with a roller and the process is repeated until the final part geometry is achieved. A heated build chamber can help speed up the printing process by increasing the viscosity of the materials
[27].
BJ powders are available in a wide variety of materials, such as metals, polymers, and ceramics
[28]. Furthermore, the build volume of Binder Jetting machines for metal parts is among the largest on the market compared to other metal additive manufacturing technologies (up to 800 × 500 × 400 mm)
[29].
2.1.3. Sheet Lamination (SL)
SL technology uses sheets of material to fabricate 3D objects. In all these technologies, the sheets are cut to the shape of the desired object, which are then joined together to obtain a three-dimensional part
[30]. Depending on the material of the sheets, there are different SL technologies, e.g., for polymers, laminated object manufacturing (LOM); for composites, composite-based additive manufacturing (CBAM); and for metallic materials, ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM). The benefits of these technologies include high speed, low cost, and ease of material handling.
2.1.4. Directed Energy Deposition (DED)
The directed energy deposition process is an emerging process, which has been under development and industrialization for just over 15 years. DED technology includes all those techniques where the energy source melts and feeds the material
[31]. The main advantage of this type of technology, compared to powder bed systems, is the possibility of manufacturing larger parts in higher working volumes and the possibility of repairing damaged parts
[32].
In this type of process, a preform is obtained that is very close to the final geometry of the part and the amount of material to be machined is greatly reduced. In addition, it starts directly from a digital file containing the three-dimensional geometry of the part and the metal material is added by melting it and adding it to the base material, generating the geometry in layers. In some recent cases, it has been shown that savings in material, cost, and energy consumption of more than 70% can be achieved, and lead times can be significantly reduced compared to conventional manufacturing
[33].
DED technologies include processes with a wire feed
[6] and processes with a powder feed
[34]. The ability to use yarn as a raw material instead of powder reduces the price per kilogram, increases the efficiency of material utilization, reduces the need for powder recycling systems, creates an environmentally friendly process, and adds the possibility of easy material handling by the operator without health and safety concerns
[35][36].
The energy source for melting the material can be a laser, an electron beam, or an electric arc. Thus, the energy source head and the material feeding equipment are mounted on a machine with specific kinematics (a robotic arm, a Gantry machine, a Cartesian machine, etc.) and through it, the material is fed to where it is required
[10]. Therefore, in these technologies, there are usually no machine vendors offering closed solutions.
Furthermore, within the DED category, different types of processes are differentiated depending on the nature of the energy source and the format of the material introduced: laser material deposition (LMD), electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM), and wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM)
[7].
In this type of technology, energy is directed to a specific region to heat the substrate and melt the material to be deposited. The resolution of the process depends on the type of energy source used (laser > electron beam > electric arc)
[37], while the fabrication speed is related to the input rate (DML 1 kg/h < EBAM 10 kg/h < WAAM 10 kg/h).
In addition, the energy efficiency of the laser is low (35% maximum); that of the electron beam is slightly lower (15–20%) but is not comparable to that of the electric arc, which in some circumstances can reach 90%
[6]. Compared to laser techniques, the electric arc is a more efficient energy source for melting the material, especially in reflective metal alloys such as aluminum, copper, and magnesium
[38].
In general terms, a comparison of the main characteristics of dust bed and DED technologies can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Comparison of main metal additive manufacturing processes.
Therefore, when examining the possibilities and limitations of these methods (see Table 1), it is concluded that additive processes for metal fabrication have many challenges to overcome in the near future. For example, process variables such as the time and temperature of the cooling process, the composition of the protective atmosphere, and the solidification rate of the material must be controlled.
In fact, as a result of these variables, the final properties of the part are obtained, such as microstructure, surface finish, mechanical strength, or fatigue resistance. In addition, the effects of poor control of these variables, such as the appearance of defects in the form of porosity, excessive residual stresses, poor adhesion to the base material, or loss of mechanical properties must be considered
[43].
Furthermore, today, in many cases, metal additive technologies are still limited to prototyping, production of small, high value-added parts, and repairs
[44]. To replace traditional manufacturing methods and to become a core element of Industry 4.0, these technologies will need to demonstrate that they can overcome the barriers they face and adapt to mass production.
2.2. Symmetry Applied in Additive Manufacturing Processes
Symmetry, as such, is a very broad concept and is related to different disciplines such as geometry, drawing, graphic design, architecture, and other arts. It can also be found in sciences such as biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
Symmetry is defined as
[45]:
Exact correspondence in the regular arrangement of the parts or points of a body or figure in relation to a center, an axis or a plane. The word comes from the Latin “symmetrĭa”, and this in turn from Greek συμμετρία (symmetría) where őύν “with” and μέτροv “measure”.
It is a characteristic feature of geometric shapes, systems, equations, and other material objects, or abstract entities, related to their invariance under certain transformations, movements or exchanges.
Symmetry can be classified into the following types
[46]:
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Rotation. The rotation that every motif undergoes in a repetitive way until it finally achieves the identical position it had at the beginning.
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Folding. In this case, what is achieved is two equal parts of a specific object after a 180° turn of one with respect to the other.
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Translation. This is the term used to refer to the set of repetitions carried out by an object at an always identical distance from the axis and along a line that can be placed in any position.
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Expansion. It is used to show that two parts of a whole are similar and have the same shape, but not the same size.
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Bilateral. This allows the acquisition of a bilateral portrait that has as a backbone an axis of symmetry. At the sides of this axis, equal shapes appear at the same distance from it, which will be those that allow the creation of the aforementioned portrait.
In additive manufacturing, specifically in metal fabrication, different uses of symmetry have been found, all of which are related to further optimization, better process control (search for repeatability or tracking of manufacturing and results), and analysis of properties or comparison between techniques. A search flow (following the manufacturing flow) was developed to find the fields in which symmetry is used, as shown in Figure 3, to identify the value that symmetry can add. Six different fields of application of symmetry within additive manufacturing of metals were found; they are listed and detailed in Figure 3 with their corresponding stage of the additive manufacturing flow.
Figure 3. Fields of application of the use of symmetry in the additive manufacturing of metals classified by the sections of the document following the manufacturing flow.