Methodology for cost estimation using characteristic factors in additive manufacturing

The cost of additive manufacturing (AM) processes is today typically higher than traditional manufacturing processes such as casting or machining for series production, particularly of medium and large batches. A fair comparison is often complex, since the true costs of the AM part become only visible after leveraging the design freedom through a Design-for-AM (DfAM) process. Thus, for the analysis of the manufacturing costs of additively manufactured parts versus conventional production methods a simplified cost estimation model based on component volume is introduced. Considering at first the same volume as in the conventional part design, the price for the component using powder bed fusion and sinter-based AM methods is approximated. The resulting, typically higher costs are then transduced into a weight saving requirement for matching the costs of the conventional process. Finally, this requirement is assessed against the typical weight saving potentials of each technology to predict the economic feasibility.