PREMISE: Product Realization by Closed Loop Direct Metal Deposition: Environmental and Energy Impact

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The overarching goal of this Product Realization and Environmental Manufacturing Innovative Systems (PREMISE) research project is to develop supporting technology and knowledge to facilitate the diffusion of Closed Loop Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) technology as an energy, cost, and environmental improvement relative to traditional mold and die manufacturing processes. While the technological viability of DMD is proven, and the technology is poised to have a major impact on the metals and plastics industries, DMD must be evaluated for its economic, energy, and environmental impact before the technology diffuses into the standard practice. As experience has shown, once a technology has diffused widely and a standard practice is established around it, it is difficult to improve its environmental characteristics, especially if environmental improvement requires a change to the supply chain infrastructure. Therefore it is important to launch DMD at the outset with all of its potential environmental impacts, costs, and energy consumption minimized, and to develop an end-of-life recycling and re-use infrastructure that is prepared to handle pants generated by DMD operations. During Phase I of the proposed PREMISE research and education program following major tasks will be addressed to achieve the above-mentioned goals: 1) DMD and traditional mold manufacturing will be compared with respect to their energy consumption, environmental emissions, and costs to identify' improvement opportunities; 2) CAD/CAM-based design tools will be formulated for DMD that integrate design and manufacturing considerations (including eco-design and manufacturing); 3) An "environmental thread" will be established for the design and manufacturing curriculum of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan.In today's fast-paced, environmentally conscious society, the cycle of consumer taste for products is becoming shorter and shorter, necessitating manufacturers to go to market with shorter and shorter lead times while continuously reducing cost. However, the long-lead time currently required to design and fabricate molds and dies in the manufacturing industry does not always support this urgency to move products to market quickly. In fact, it is not unusual for large, complicated molds and dies to take up to a year before they are ready to manufacture a product. Solid Free Form technologies such as Closed Loop Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) offers a viable alternative. DMD produces three-dimensional components including molds and dies with nearly full density and controlled macro- and microstructure directly from CAD software using one or more materials.