Quantifying the Environment Impact of Metal Powder Production for Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) can reduce the environmental impacts of the materials in a manufactured component by lightweighting parts and reducing process scrap compared to subtractive manufacturing techniques such as machining. However, whether these savings materialize depends on the yield and energy and emissions intensity of powder manufacturing and utilization. Here we model the cumulative energy demand (CED) associated with the powder used to make a metal AM part. We use life cycle material flow analysis, combined with process energy intensities obtained from the literature. We perform Monte Carlo analysis to quantify the uncertainty in the results and sensitivity analysis to identify critical system parameters that drive CED for powder production and use. We then evaluate which critical system parameters have the most influence on the CED of AM powder that both producers and consumers can influence.