Prospective LCA of patented Direct Energy Deposition technology for additive manufacturing

The rapid diffusion of additive manufacturing (AM) raises the need to carefully evaluate its environmental sustainability. However, the continuous evolution of AM technologies makes life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which consider traditional technologies, of little significance. The problem is accentuated if one wants to consider such studies to make decisions in the manufacturing sector for the near future. To overcome this limitation, this study considers patented AM technologies related to Direct Energy Deposition (DED) and employs prospective LCA methodology to estimate its future impacts. This approach holds the potential to provide valuable insights into the future of these technologies, particularly when they reach technological maturity and large-scale production. The peculiarity of this study lies in the use of patents as a source to extract the data that are used to model the foreground inventory of future DED. Consistently with the time scope of the analysis, the background inventory is also modelled in future time, modifying the production impacts of materials and energy using Integrated assessment modelling. The environmental impact of future DED is estimated by considering foreground data and background inventory. The results are compared with the DED impacts available on the market today to identify the main environmental benefits that patents can bring. The collection and analysis of the technological solutions claimed in the same patents and their classification according to the environmental advantages is used to identify eco-design solutions and strategies that can be considered to improve the sustainability of current DED technology.