Advanced Process Chains for Prototyping and Pilot Production based on Additive Manufacturing

For many years, Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been a well-established production technology used mainly for rapid prototyping. But the need for increased flexibility and economic low volume production led to the discovery of Additive Manufacturing as a suitable fabrication technique (Mellor 2013). With technological progress and the development of new processes, AM technology now starts to become a serious option for mass production. It enables new options for material choice, shape and internal structure. Productivity in production of e.g. metal parts can be increased due to mass and cost reduction and better parts functionality (Ponche 2014). Also, the use of AM ma-chines for spare parts can potentially reduce costs and downtime, and lead to a higher robustness to supply chain disruptions (Khajavi 2013). Control and optimization of the involved process chains are crucial for a fast and robust implementation of AM technology in the industrial world.