Speakers
Description
Compared to Conventional Manufacturing (CM), Additive Manufacturing (AM) can enable the production of complex and optimized shapes while reducing the manufacturing cycle. For this reason, it is increasingly used to manufacture parts of rocket engines. AM is often presented as being able to be more economical in raw material and is seen as a “clean” process, without it having been fully demonstrated. Does it really show environmental advantages and if so, under which circumstances?
This paper presents an evaluation of the environmental impacts - from cradle to factory gate - of the Laser Beam Melting process used to produce one kilogram of a selection of metals (aluminum, stainless steel, Inconel and titanium). This helps to identify the major contributors of the impacts and find strategies to environmentally improve the process. In a second step, a comparative simplified Life Cycle Analysis is presented for the manufacturing of a turbopump volute casing (in aluminum or Inconel) with Laser Beam Melting or a CM process (casting).
