The 2020 toy and game market is projected to be US$135 billion. To determine if 3D printing could affect these markets if consumers offset purchases by 3D printing free designs, this study investigates the 100 most popular downloaded designs at MyMiniFactory in a month. Savings are quantified for using a Lulzbot Mini 3D printer and three filament types: commercial filament, pellet-extruded filament, and post-consumer waste converted to filament with a recyclebot. Case studies probed the quality of: (1) six common complex toys; (2) Lego blocks; and (3) the customizability of open source board games. All filaments analyzed saved the user over 75% of the cost of commercially available true alternative toys and over 90% for recyclebot filament. Overall, these results indicate a single 3D printing repository among dozens is saving consumers well over $60 million/year in offset purchases. The most common savings fell by 40%–90% in total savings, which came with the ability to make novel toys and games. The results of this study show consumers can generate higher value items for less money using the open source distributed manufacturing paradigm. It appears clear that consumer do-it-yourself (DIY) manufacturing is set to have a significant impact on the toy and game markets in the future.

Research into Design for Communities, Volume 1, 2017

Rapid advancements of 3D printing technologies have created new opportunities and challenges. The material extrusion and the stereolithographic 3D printers, which were recently launched in a desktop size, herald a new time whereby common people will be able to own manufacturing means in their home. The prime motivation of this study was driven from the gap that existed between the market that offers desktop 3D printers, along with access to 3D printed products, and the users which still had not widely adopted this new technology. The study was derived from a wider continuous research that examined the personal desktop 3D printing market, and to better understand the existing situation, the study reviewed 5 CAD softwares oriented at product design for non-professional users and 16 websites that offer 3D printed parts and products.

2016

This thesis is a development of an earlier piece of research by the author entitled ‘Barriers to participation in 3d print making’ (MacLeod-Iredale, 2015). The earlier paper identified 3d computer modelling as the most significant barrier to participation in 3d printing for non-designers (other than the socio-economic causes of disenfranchisement and disadvantage). This research will develop and test an approach to introducing the layperson to generating 3d digital content. Until very recently, 3d content has been the exclusive remit of professional designers and dedicated amateur enthusiasts. The public are beginning to have access to the much-vaunted technology (Kirkby 2015), with the nascent democratisation of 3d printing via organisations including the FabLab movement, libraries and schools (Compton and Walker 2014, Chung 2014, Griffey 2014, Moorefield-Lang 2014). Others can debate exactly how 3d printing may affect the public (Chan and Smith 2013, Flanders 2011), it is clear ho...

Participations, Volume 2010, Issue 202, 12, 2013

3D printing is touted as a coming revolution in the manufacture of consumer goods. However, its use remains limited to a homogeneous group of early adopters. We discuss this mismatch between the rhetoric and reality of 3D printing in light of findings from a cocreation workshop incorporating audience engagement activities. During the workshop art and design students collaborated with craftspeople to create 3D printed objects for an outdoor exhibition. The workshop enhanced participants' confidence in 3D modelling and printing. Claims about 3D printing are best examined through hands-on experimentation by people with a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Moving 3D printed objects out of the lab into outdoor public spaces can add new perspectives on this rapidly developing medium. Strategies and barriers to achieving this are discussed. on 3D printers. Notable online communities include Makerbot Thingiverse 1 , Shapeways 2 , Autodesk 123D 3 , Instructables 4 and the RepRap project. 5 The exchange of digital models through online services such as Thingiverse and Shapeways could alter the way products are distributed and encourage derivative objects to be created from a blueprint. There are also off-line activities organised through networks of organisations such as FabLabs, MakLabs, HackLabs and Maker Fairs that involve 3D printing.

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

The circular economy (CE) aims to radically improve resource efficiency by eliminating the concept of waste and leading to a shift away from the linear take-make-waste model. In a CE, resources are flowing in a circular manner either in a biocycle (biomass) or technocycle (inorganic materials). While early studies indicate that 3D printing (3DP) holds substantial promise for sustainability and the creation of a CE, there is no guarantee that it will do so. There is great uncertainty regarding whether the current trajectory of 3DP adoption is creating more circular material flows or if it is leading to an alternative scenario in which less eco-efficient localised production, demands for customised goods, and a higher rate of product obsolescence combine to bring about increased resource consumption. It is critical that CE principles are embedded into the new manufacturing system before the adoption of 3DP reaches a critical inflection point in which negative practices become entrenched. This paper authored by both academic and industry experts proposes a research agenda to determine enablers and barriers for 3DP to achieve a CE. We explore the two following overarching questions to discover what specific issues they entail: (1) How can a more distributed manufacturing system based on 3DP create a circular economy of closed-loop material flows? (2) What are the barriers to a circular 3D printing economy? We specifically examine six areasdesign, supply chains, information flows, entrepreneurship, business models and education-with the aim of formulating a research agenda to enable 3DP to reach its full potential for a CE. Highlights  Circular economy (CE) principles need to be embedded into new manufacturing system.  3D Printing (3DP) holds the potential to enable the shift towards a CE.  We propose a research agenda to explore the role and impact of 3DP in a CE.  A collection of research questions in six key areas were identified.

2016

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies are challenging the existing industrial paradigms and creating expectations that the relationship between manufacturing and the environment can also be different. One of these expectations is that greenhouse gas emissions may be reduced when people fabricate their own products at home because product transportation that is required by the conventional manufacturing model is avoided. Although avoiding product transportation can be beneficial for the environment, the effects of 3D printing in a distributed manufacturing model are essentially unknown. Data on environmental impact from spare plastic parts were obtained from conventional and distributed manufacturing processes by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software, the Ecoinvent-3 database and electricity consumption measurements. The LCA was conducted to compare the environmental impact of spare plastic parts fabricated by two main models: 3D printing in distributed manufacturing and inje...

Technologies labelled as “disruptive” challenge conventional business procedures. The development of 3D printing technology and additive manufacturing (AM) is expected to transform product design and manufacturing. 3D printing technology makes it possible to produce complex and unique physical products from digitally designed CAD models. It is estimated that the effects of 3D printing on business will be diverse and far-reaching. Hence, it is vital for business owners to observe how 3D printing may impact on business models and business networks, considering also the effects on stakeholders’ value propositions and on value creation. This paper reports on the potential impact of 3D printing technology on business models within the metal and machinery industries.

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, 2019

Not often is a general-purpose technology created that can disrupt numerous markets and significantly affect social welfare. 3D printing fits this description. It promises to improve the quality of some goods and to greatly increase the efficiency of their production processes. More importantly, it holds potential to reshape entire supply chains, including the design, manufacture, assembly, distribution, warehousing, and marketing of some goods, potentially even eliminating some parts of such chains. By changing the Coasian tradeoff, it also reshapes relationships between market players. In this article, we review the potential disrup-tive effects of 3D technology, analyzing the ways it affects market dynamics and social welfare. We then consider the policy and institutional responses that may be required as 3D printing comes into its own, fo-cusing on regulatory tools that foster competition and innovation. We identify three main regulatory tasks that are affected by the unique characteristics of 3D printing technology.

Additive manufacturing with 3-D printers may be a key technology enabler for entrepreneurs seeking to use disruptive innovations, such as business models utilizing distributed manufacturing. Unlike centralized manufacturing, distributed manufacturing makes the parts and products (the prints) at (or closer to) the source of the demand, cutting out much of the traditional supply chain. Although many expect 3-D printing to take off at the household level and previous work has shown significant returns for those choosing to do so, there are still significant barriers to entry for typical consumers. Our analysis demonstrates that for an individual to make an abnormally high return on their investments in 3-D printers, they must serve others to achieve high utilization rates. The impetus to do so is created by a service that can undercut traditionally manufactured products due to affordability and customizability. Low cost open-source 3-D printers are now priced within range of individual entrepreneurs, who can take advantage of the long tail of consumers with highly varied interests. The margin advantage, net present value, and ROI analysis provided herein could form the basis of thousands of new small-business ventures in the coming years.

2019

Heralded for ushering in a new era of personalized manufacturing, there is a growing fear that consumer 3D printing is the next frontier of massive intellectual property infringements. Described as the Napster of patents, illegal 3D printing is foretold to disrupt manufacturing in the same manner as digital piracy unsettled the music industry. This Article shows that the negative forecast of rampant 3D printing piracy is unfounded. We explain how the purported analogies between P2P file sharing and consumer 3D printing overlook essential differences between piracy of media content and physical property. We caution against aggressive enforcement against unauthorized consumer 3D printing that would impede innovation and the development of 3D printing technologies.

With the increasing economic accessibility of 3D printers, the lessons learned and the logics cultivated on digital Web 2.0 now seem applicable to the world of material things. Released in early 2012 by the artist groups F.A.T. and Sy-lab, the Free Universal Construction Kit is a set of 3D drawings that enable everyone with access to a 3D printer to make connectors between intellectual property restricted toys like LEGO, Tinkertoys, and Fischertechnik. However, when describing this project as “reverse engineering as a civic activity”, it becomes obvious that the Kit’s greater agenda is not just to enable cross-over playing, but rather, to problematize and perhaps ultimately open up closed formats through critical appropriation. But how does that, for instance, conform with the fact that the connectors are parasitically attached to these toys, whose logic it is simultaneously defying? And which (implicit) notions of creativity and play are at stake in this project, and to what extent do they fit the more general philosophical underpinnings of this project?

AI

European Journal of Social Impact and Circular Economy, 2022

Centralized manufacturing of proprietary products has dominated the economy since the industrial revolution. Recently however, several studies have indicated potential of producing consumers (prosumers) digitally reproducing open source designs with 3-D printers to save money by offsetting the purchase of commercial products. With over 2 million desktop 3-D printers being purchased per year, the impact on conventional industry could be substantial, but is still unknown. The objective of this study is to begin to determine the economic impact created by proliferation of open-source digital designs for 3-D printed products. In order to do this, the top 100 most popular designs posted on the YouMagine 3-D printing repository are analyzed. The download substitution value is calculated based on Amazon prices of comparable products to estimate the potential savings those designs could generate for 3-D printer users. Case studies are provided on three types of open source designs: i) open source equivalent products, ii) non-commercial products of high value to the consumer, and iii) products for 3-D printing users. The savings available for prosumers was found to be highly dependent on the 3-D printing material. The means of percentage savings using commercial 3-D printing filament, commercial plastic pellets, recycled commercial pellets, and self-recycled consumer plastics are 82%, 94%, 97% and 98%, respectively. The potential for laterally-scaled wealth generation in a circular economy with widespread use of recyclebots, 3-D printing and sharing open designs is substantial. In the U.S., considering the use of household plastic waste over $359 billion/year could be used to offset filament purchases or over $7 trillion/year for products. If adoption of household-level DIY digital manufacturing of open source designs becomes widespread open business models are needed.

Through reduced 3-D printer cost, increased usability, and greater material selection, additive manufacturing has transitioned from business manufacturing to the average prosumer. This study serves as a representative model for the potential future of 3-D printing in the average American household by employing a printer operator who was relatively unfamiliar with 3-D printing and the 3-D design files of common items normally purchased by the average consumer. Twenty-six items were printed in thermoplastic and a cost analysis was performed through comparison to comparable, commercially available products at a low and high price range. When compared to the low-cost items, investment in a 3-D printer represented a return of investment of over 100% in five years. The simple payback time for the high-cost comparison was less than 6 months, and produced a 986% return. Thus, fully-assembled commercial open source 3-D printers can be highly profitable investments for American consumers. Finally, as a preliminary gauge of the effect that widespread prosumer use of 3-D printing might have on the economy, savings were calculated based on the items' download rates from open repositories. Results indicate that printing these selected items have already saved prosumers over $4 million by substituting for purchases.

Based on the results of a 2012 survey on people doing 3D printing, we present results on the demographics and self-identification of the community, as well as describing participants' printing activity. Combining results from the survey with insights from research literature, we analyse emerging patterns and practices of 3D printing as a subdivision of a more general trend of physical peer production, and, even, of a revolution in manufacturing, as predicted by several theorists.

The recent development of open-source 3-D printers makes scaling of distributed additive-based manufacturing of high-value objects technically feasible. These self-replicating rapid prototypers (RepRaps) can manufacture approximately half of their own parts from sequential fused deposition of polymer feedstocks. RepRaps have been proposed and demonstrated to be useful for conventional prototyping and engineering, customizing scientific equipment, and appropriate technology-related manufacturing for sustainable development. However, in order for this technology to proliferate like 2-D electronic printers have, it must be economically viable for a typical household. This study reports on the life-cycle economic analysis (LCEA) of RepRap technology for an average U.S. household. A new low-cost RepRap is described and the costs of materials and time to construct it are quantified. The economic costs of a selection of twenty open-source printable designs (representing less than 0.04% of those available), are typical of products that a household might purchase, are quantified for print time, energy, and filament consumption and compared to low and high Internet market prices for similar products without shipping costs. The results show that even making the extremely conservative assumption that the household would only use the printer to make the selected twenty products a year the avoided purchase cost savings would range from about $300 to $2000/year. Assuming the 25 hours of necessary printing for the selected products is evenly distributed throughout the year these savings provide a simple payback time for the RepRap in 4 months to 2 years and provide an ROI between >200% and >40%. As both upgrades and the components that are most likely to wear out in the RepRap can be printed and thus the lifetime of the distributing manufacturing can be substantially increased the unavoidable conclusion from this study is that the RepRap is an economically attractive investment for the average U.S. household already. It appears clear that as RepRaps improve in reliability, continue to decline in cost and both the number and assumed utility of open-source designs continues growing exponentially, open-source 3-D printers will become a mass-market mechatronic device.

Until recently, most manufacturing processes have been ‘subtractive’ in that matter is removed (e.g., scraped, dissolved, turned, machined) from a substance in order to produce the desired product. 3-D printing turns traditional manufacturing on its head in that it uses an ‘additive’ process. Similar to laser and inkjet printers, 3-D (three-dimensional) printers produce pieces by depositing, or adding, layers of material–—plastic, polymer filaments, metals, and even foodstuffs–—until the desired product is realized. This means that the creation and production of ‘one-offs’ is not only easy, it is also economically viable. 3-D printers are becoming ever more affordable, and it is not hard to envision them being as common in most homes in the near future as their two-dimensional counterparts are today. This article presents a 3-D printing primer for non-technical managers. It then considers the profound impact that 3-D printing will have on firms of all kinds as well as on individual consumers. In addition, it raises the substantial questions that 3-D printing will pose to policy makers from both intellectual property and ethical standpoints.

2017

3D printing is described as the next industrial revolution bringing manufacturing to the home. However, it’s attraction to the home or non-technical user is frustrated by the difficulty in deploying the software and the technology which both need professional understanding and training.Research and innovation in this area has concentrated on technology, not users and usability. Home users can access simple design software tools, best described as good for one task only. Software such as Microsoft word and Excel have been the subject of development for enabling most people to use computers without the need for training or the ability to program. However research in the home users of 3-D printing is very limited. This literature review is concerned is an investigation into home/non-technical use of 3-D printers, their needs and limitations, in order to facilitate the development of effective tools and manuals. An investigation of literature and a survey supported by a focus group of 4...

This white paper focuses on emerging issues for online access, communication & sharing of 3D printer files. It is framed from the user’s perspective as they navigate risk and regulation around finding, sharing, modifying, and printing files. The paper considers 3D printing as a social practice that is largely dependent on digital communication: consumers are enabled by the effortless connectivity the internet brings to find, modify and print files. The paper interprets consumer concerns and practice (through focus groups and SNA analysis of sharing patterns online) and then leverages current expert legal opinion and case law to arrive at clear points of guidance for consumers to consider as they explore 3D printing.

International Journal of Production Economics, 2015

Additive manufacturing (AM), colloquially known as 3D printing, is currently being promoted as the spark of a new industrial revolution. The technology allows one to make customized products without incurring any cost penalties in manufacturing as neither tools nor molds are required. Moreover, AM enables the production of complex and integrated functional designs in a one-step process, thereby also potentially reducing the need for assembly work. In this article, we discuss the impact of AM technology at both firm and industry level. Our intention is to discern how market structures will be affected from an operations management perspective. Based on an analysis of established economic models, we first identify the economic and technological characteristics of AM and distill four key principles relevant to manufacturers at firm level. We then critically assess the effects of AM at industry level by analyzing the validity of earlier assumptions in the models when these four principles apply. In so doing, we derive a set of seven propositions which provide impetus for future research. In particular, we propose that in a monopoly, the adoption of AM allows a firm to increase profits by capturing consumer surplus when flexibly producing customized products. Meanwhile in competitive markets, competition is spurred as AM may lower barriers to market entry and offers the ability to serve multiple markets at once. This should ultimately result in lower prices for consumers.

Review of Marketing Research, 2019

Retailing thought and practice is premised on the assumption that consumers visit retailers to search for and acquire objects produced by manufacturers. In essence, we assume that the acts of consuming and producing are conducted by separate entities. This unspoken yet familiar premise shapes the questions retail scholars ask and the way retail practitioners think about their industry. Although this assumption accurately depicted retailing since the Industrial Revolution, its relevance is being challenged by a growing set of individuals who are equipped with new digital tools to engage in self-manufacturing. In this chapter, we examine self-manufacturing with a particular focus on the recent rise of desktop 3D printing. After discussing this new technology and reviewing the literature, we offer a conceptual classification of four distinct types of 3D printed objects and use this classification to inform a content analysis of over 400 of these objects. Based on this review and analysis, we discuss the implications of self-manufacturing for retailing thought and practice.

MATEC Web of Conferences

With one of the largest refugee crises of modern times currently occurring, the need for technology-based solutions to address related pressing issues is eminent. In the past few years, 3D printing has attracted considerable attention as a technology that could help to address specific refugees needs in a customized way. The aim of the presented work was to investigate and demonstrate the contribution of 3D printing to the design of specific products that could easily and rapidly manufactured to assist the refugees integration into the host country. Specifically, the undertaken study focused on facilitating the integration of refugees’ children into the Greek society through the design and 3D printed toys for educational purposes. It is demonstrated in this preliminary study that such 3D printed toys can be proven a powerful tool for improving the integration process of displaced people by making the learning of a new language a pleasurable experience.

Technologies

In order to accelerate deployment of distributed recycling by providing low-cost feed stocks of granulated post-consumer waste plastic, this study analyzes an open source waste plastic granulator system. It is designed, built, and tested for its ability to convert post-consumer waste, 3D printed products and waste into polymer feedstock for recyclebots of fused particle/granule printers. The technical specifications of the device are quantified in terms of power consumption (380 to 404 W for PET and PLA, respectively) and particle size distribution. The open source device can be fabricated for less than $2000 USD in materials. The experimentally measured power use is only a minor contribution to the overall embodied energy of distributed recycling of waste plastic. The resultant plastic particle size distributions were found to be appropriate for use in both recyclebots and direct material extrusion 3D printers. Simple retrofits are shown to reduce sound levels during operation by 4...

Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2018

Fused particle fabrication (FPF) (or fused granular fabrication (FGF)) has potential for increasing recycled polymers in 3-D printing. Here, the open source Gigabot X is used to develop a new method to optimize FPF/FGF for recycled materials. Virgin polylactic acid (PLA) pellets and prints were analyzed and were then compared to four recycled polymers including the two most popular printing materials (PLA and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)) as well as the two most common waste plastics (polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP)). The size characteristics of the various materials were quantified using digital image processing. Then, power and nozzle velocity matrices were used to optimize the print speed, and a print test was used to maximize the output for a two-temperature stage extruder for a given polymer feedstock. ASTM type 4 tensile tests were used to determine the mechanical properties of each plastic when they were printed with a particle drive extruder ...

Materials

Past work has shown that particle material extrusion (fused particle fabrication (FPF)/fused granular fabrication (FGF)) has the potential for increasing the use of recycled polymers in 3D printing. This study extends this potential to high-performance (high-mechanical-strength and heat-resistant) polymers using polycarbonate (PC). Recycled PC regrind of approximately 25 mm2 was 3D printed with an open-source Gigabot X and analyzed. A temperature and nozzle velocity matrix was used to find useful printing parameters, and a print test was used to maximize the output for a two-temperature stage extruder for PC. ASTM type 4 tensile test geometries as well as ASTM-approved compression tests were used to determine the mechanical properties of PC and were compared with filament printing and the bulk virgin material. The results showed the tensile strength of parts manufactured from the recycled PC particles (64.9 MPa) were comparable to that of the commercial filament printed on desktop (...

Technologies

The creation of innovative tools, objects and artifacts that introduce abstract ideas in the real world is a necessary step for the evolution process and characterize the creative capacity of civilization. Sculpture is based on the available technology for its creation process and is strongly related to the level of technological sophistication of each era. This paper analyzes the evolution of basic sculpture techniques (carving, lost-wax casting and 3D scanning/printing), and their importance as a culture footprint. It also presents and evaluates the added creative capacities of each technological step and the different methods of 3D scanning/printing concerning sculpture. It is also an attempt to define the term “material poetics”, which is connected to sculpture artifacts. We conclude that 3D scanning/printing is an important sign of civilization, although artifacts lose a part of material poetics with additive manufacturing. Subsequently, there are various causes of the destruct...

RSC Advances

The worldwide demand for additive manufacturing (AM) is increasing due to its ability to produce more challenging customized objects based on the process parameters for engineering applications.

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 2019

Purpose The emergence and application of 3D Printing (3DP) is changing the way products are developed and reach the customer, allowing for unprecedented customisation options. Past research has focussed on the modus operandi of the technology, providing indications for wider future adoption. 3DP is predicted to complement current production processes and is anticipated to have a profound effect on the value chain and, therefore, on supply chain (SC) management. Management-related 3DP research has, however, been largely fragmented in terms of analysing the strategic deployment of 3DP and the corresponding effects on performance objectives. The aim of this paper is to identify, define and exemplify typical 3DP deployment strategies pursued. Design/methodology/approach The approach taken is a critical literature review, synthesising and interpreting past research on cross-industry deployment of 3DP, including illustrative examples. This enabled the development of a framework of current...

Technologies, 2021

With the advancement of additive manufacturing technologies in their material processing methodologies and variety of material selection, 3D printers are widely used in both academics and industries for various applications. It is no longer rare to have a portable and small desktop 3D printer and manufacture your own designs in a few hours. Desktop 3D printers vary in their functions, prices, materials used, and applications. Among many desktop 3D printers with various features, it is often challenging to select the best one for target applications and usages. In this paper, commercially available and carefully selected thermoplastic and photopolymer desktop 3D printers are introduced, and some representative models’ specifications and performances are compared with each other for user selection with respect to instructional applications. This paper aims to provide beginner-level or advanced-level end-users of desktop 3D printers with basic knowledge, selection criteria, a comprehen...

Additive Manufacturing, 2020

• Developed a visual servoing platform using a monocular multistage image segmentation • Presented algorithm prevents critical failures during additive manufacturing • The developed system allows tracking printing errors on the interior and exterior The paper describes an open source computer vision-based hardware structure and software algorithm, which analyzes layer-wise the 3-D printing processes, tracks printing errors, and generates appropriate printer actions to improve reliability. This approach is built upon multiplestage monocular image examination, which allows monitoring both the external shape of the printed object and internal structure of its layers. Starting with the side-view height validation, the developed program analyzes the virtual top view for outer shell contour correspondence using the multi-template matching and iterative closest point algorithms, as well as inner layer texture quality clustering the spatial-frequency filter responses with Gaussian mixture models and segmenting structural anomalies with the agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm. This allows evaluation of both global and local parameters of the printing modes. The experimentallyverified analysis time per layer is less than one minute, which can be considered a quasi-real-time process for large prints. The systems can work as an intelligent printing suspension tool designed to save time and material. However, the results show the algorithm provides a means to systematize in situ printing data as a first step in a fully open source failure correction algorithm for additive manufacturing.

Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 2021

To overcome the challenge of upcycling plastic waste into three-dimensional (3D) printing filament in the distributed recycling and additive manufacturing systems, this study designs, builds, tests, and validates an open-source filament diameter sensor for recycling and winding machines. The modular system for multi-axis optical control of the diameter of the recycled 3D-printer filament makes it possible to scan part of the surface of the processed filament, save the history of measurements along the entire length of the spool, as well as mark defective areas. The sensor is developed as an independent module and integrated into a recyclebot. It was tested on different kinds of polymers (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactide (PLA)), different sources of plastic, and different colors including clear plastic. The results were compared with the manual measurements, and the measurements obtained with a one-dimensional digital light caliper. The results found that the develo...

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020

The rapid technical evolution of additive manufacturing (AM) enables a new path to a circular economy using distributed recycling and production. This concept of Distributed Recycling via Additive Manufacturing (DRAM) is related to the use of recycled materials by means of mechanical recycling process in the 3D printing process chain. This paper aims to examine the current advances on thermoplastic recycling processes via additive manufacturing technologies. After proposing a closed recycling global chain for DRAM, a systematic literature review including 92 papers from 2009 to 2019 was performed using the scopus, web of science and springer databases. This work examines main topics from six stages (recovery, preparation, compounding, feedstock, printing, quality) of the proposed DRAM chain. The results suggested that few works have been done for the recovery and preparation stages, while a great progress has already been done for the other stages in order to validate the technical feasibility, environmental impact, and economic viability. Potential research paths in the pre-treatment of recycled material at local level and printing chain phases were identified in order to connect the development of DRAM with the circular economy ambition at micro, meso and macro level. The development of each stage proposed using the open source approach is a relevant path to scale DRAM to reach the full technical potential as a centerpiece of the circular economy.

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