In this study, the authors present a comparative analysis of different additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for high-performance components. Four 3D printers, currently available on the Italian national manufacturing market and belonging to three different AM technologies, were considered. The analysis focused on technical aspects to highlight the characteristics and performance limits of each technology, economic aspects to allow for an assessment of the costs associated with the different processes, and environmental aspects to focus on the impact of the production cycles associated with these technologies on the ecosystem, resources and human health. This study highlighted the current limits of additive manufacturing technologies in terms of production capacity in the case of large-scale production of plastic components, especially large ones. At the same time, this study highlights how the geometry of the object to be developed greatly influences the optimal choice between the various AM technologies, in both technological and economic terms. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the technology that exhibits the greatest limitations hindering mass production due to production times and costs, but also due to the associated environmental impact.

Laser beam cutting is a non-contact, production-flexible and highly productive technique that allows accurate profiling of a wide range of sheet materials. To these and further benefits, laser machining is increasingly being adopted by industry. This paper investigates the effect of material type, workpiece thickness, cutting speed and assistant gas pressure on cut quality for industrial-relevant applications using a CO₂ laser. AlMg3 aluminum alloy, St37-2 low-carbon steel and AISI 304 stainless steel were selected to represent the most established materials in many industrial fields and gain insight into different processes (i.e., inert-assisted fusion cutting and oxygen cutting) and absorption behaviors with respect to CO₂ laser wavelength. The aim was to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms through which laser cutting parameters and workpiece parameters interact in order to identify general criteria and well-optimized process parameters which guarantee the kerf quality. The quality of laser cut was analyzed in its basic terms: kerf geometry, surface roughness and cut edge quality. The experiments were performed by using a systematic experimental design approach based on Design of Experiments, and the results were validated via Analysis of Variance. Quality assessment was presented and discussed. The visual inspection of cut sections confirms good overall quality and limited presence of laser cut imperfections. The experimental investigation demonstrates that the different materials can be successfully processed within a wide range of the tested values. In addition, optimum cutting conditions which satisfy the straight requirement of the quality standard adopted are identified for each material. This study involves an analysis of both phenomenological and practical issues.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a production process for the fabrication of three-dimensional items characterized by complex geometries. Several technologies employ a localized melting of metal dust through the application of focused energy sources, such as lasers or electron beams, on a powder bed. Despite the high potential of AM, numerous burdens afflict this production technology; for example, the few materials available, thermal stress due to the focused thermal source, low surface finishing, anisotropic properties, and the high cost of raw materials and the manufacturing process. In this paper, the combination by AM of meltable resins with metal casting for an indirect additive manufacturing (I-AM) is proposed. The process is applied to the production of open cells metal foams, similar in shape to the products available in commerce. However, their cellular structure features were designed and optimized by graphical editor Grasshopper®. The metal foams produced by AM were cast with a lost wax process and compared with commercial metal foams by means of compression tests.