A Lifecycle Model for the Environmental and Economic Assessment of Selective Laser Melting Processes

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a promising technology that fosters innovation and increases designers’ freedom. Considering the sustainability performances, AM technologies seem to have significant potential since they produce reduced or near-zero waste. However, the advantages depend on the specific application, especially in the context of metal AM, and need to be evaluated from a lifecycle perspective. The present paper proposes a simplified model for the economic and environmental sustainability assessment of the metal Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process. The model is grounded on mapping the main phases and related energy/materials flows, included in the lifecycle of an AM manufactured part (raw material, manufacturing, use end of life, transport). The preliminary tests, realized in the context of a motorbike application, confirmed that the lifecycle perspective of the model is an essential feature to guide the decision-making both during the design process and in later stages of product development.