Environmental impacts assessment of Bound Metal Deposition 3D printing process for stainless steel
Iacopo Bianchi, Di Pompeo Valerio, Tommaso Mancia, Massimiliano Pieralisi, Alessio Vita
Abstract
3D Printing consists in the manufacturing of three-dimensional products by depositing material, usually layer by layer. Since material is added only where needed, these techniques have the potential to minimize waste production, leading to a reduction of cost, energy consumption and environmental impacts with respect to traditional production processes. Bound Metal Deposition (BMD) is a 3D printing extrusion-based process for metals in which the components are build through the deposition of a metal powder held together a polymer binder. After the printing phase, the binder is removed by means of a solvent and then the part is sintered in a furnace. In this study, the environmental impacts and the mechanical properties of 17-4 PH stainless steel 3D printed parts are evaluated by means of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and tensile tests. Moreover, two different scenarios were considered to evaluate the effects of a heat treatment process on the mechanical properties and the environmental sustainability of 3D printed parts. Results show that the heat-treated components represent the best alternatives when high mechanical properties are required but, on the other hand, they present high environmental impacts.