FaPlaMult | Planning flexible additive manufacturing factories considering multi-material processing

The increasing demand and the increasing challenges for the factory due to, e.g., multi-material processing, illustrate the need for new approaches in factory planning. Due to the high product flexibility and the use in single to small batch production, requirements arise already in the planning phase, which defines the basis for the future factory operation. The complexity of factory planning increases due to the parallel use of different, partly reactive powder materials in a manufacturing process and the future planning of product variants based on an imprecise data basis.

Therefore, the project aims to develop a method for planning an additive factory for the additive manufacturing of mechatronic multi-material components. In the course of this, the process-specific requirements and their implementation are to be taken into account in factory planning. The first part of the project (technology planning) deals with developing a method for the classification of technologies and their combination into technology chains, which is applied in the planning process of an additive factory concerning optimization. In the second part of the project (production system planning), the focus is on designing a production process and layout to enable the development of a method for planning an additive manufacturing factory.

The central result of the technology planning represents a methodical procedure model, which is required to create technology chains of mechatronic multi-material components. To this end, a methodical approach was developed for the systematic identification and evaluation of relevant technologies along the additive LBM process chain. In this context, technologies were prepared and evaluated using technology profiles and a technology radar. Based on a pre-selection of these technologies with regard to their suitability for the production task, alternative technology chains can thus be planned and evaluated. A further methodological procedure was developed for this purpose. This makes it possible to systematically identify the multi-material-specific requirements of a technology chain compared to mono-material processing and determine their performance or need for adaptation and carry out a technical and economic evaluation. In the further course of the project, the method will be developed for production system planning.