The DOI matches its Crossref record; 94 of the 96 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet.
Environmental Dimensions of Additive Manufacturing: Mapping Application Domains and Their Environmental Implications
Open accessAbstract
Summary: Additive manufacturing (AM) proposes a novel paradigm for engineering design and manufacturing, which has profound economic, environmental, and security implications. The design freedom offered by this category of manufacturing processes and its ability to locally print almost each designable object will have important repercussions across society. While AM applications are progressing from rapid prototyping to the production of end‐use products, the environmental dimensions and related impacts of these evolving manufacturing processes have yet to be extensively examined. Only limited quantitative data are available on how AM manufactured products compare to conventionally manufactured ones in terms of energy and material consumption, transportation costs, pollution and waste, health and safety issues, as well as other environmental impacts over their full lifetime. Reported research indicates that the specific energy of current AM systems is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher compared to that of conventional manufacturing processes. However, only part of the AM process taxonomy is yet documented in terms of its environmental performance, and most life cycle inventory (LCI) efforts mainly focus on energy consumption. From an environmental perspective, AM manufactured parts can be beneficial for very small batches, or in cases where AM‐based redesigns offer substantial functional advantages during the product use phase (e.g., lightweight part designs and part remanufacturing). Important pending research questions include the LCI of AM feedstock production, supply‐chain consequences, and health and safety issues relating to AM.
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“AM processes currently show high production costs, low throughput rates, surface roughness, and part fatigue life limitations [157][158][159], factors that limit their near-term application.”
From Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review (2019) · cites this paper as [158]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Kellens, K., Baumers, M., Gutowski, T. G., Flanagan, W., Lifset, R., & Duflou, J. R.
- Affiliations
- KU Leuven (BE)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- General Electric (United States) (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kellens, Karel
- Venue
- Journal of Industrial Ecology
- Published
- 2017-08
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- S1
- ISSN
- 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9290
- OpenAlex
- W2741018071
- Cited by
- 310
- References
- 96
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 7
- FWCI
- 15.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Wiley eBooks
- Funders
- GOA SUMMA
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes
- Keywords
- additive manufacturing, environmental impact, life cycle inventory, energy consumption, material consumption, waste and pollution, health and safety, feedstock production, supply chain, remanufacturing, lightweight design, conventional manufacturing comparison
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