Enabling the inclusion of materials in the optimisation of Direct Digital Manufacturing

Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, is focused on the complete digitalisation of manufacturing, and has been spearheaded by the development of direct digital manufacturing technologies, such as selective laser melting and extruder-based 3D printing. As a consequence, there is the possibility Tthat significant changes will be made to the way in which products are designed and fabricated. In particular, these approaches can take advantage of digital optimisation processes such as topology optimisation. As an example, the form of a particular product can be optimised against a specific property, such as mass, as additive manufacturing allows materials to be placed at any point in the volume. We can easily envisage that the target function in the optimisation could involve other properties such as carbon footprint and the possibility of recycling or composting. These powerful optimisation processes are unlocked within the context of digital manufacturing if the complete chain is digital. As a result, in the design and fabrication cycle, the material selected for that product will naturally play a critical role in determining the properties of the final product. Some additive manufacturing technologies are able to fabricate in a straightforward and controlled manner, with spatial variations in properties. Taking advantage of these developments would provide additional advantages to digital fabrication technologies. This work is focused on developing a framework for handling materials within digital manufacturing processes to enable advances in a digital manner as described above. It is particularly challenging to identify a single framework which is suitable for all types of materials, including metals, ceramics, glass and polymers, although to do so would be especially advantageous with respect to the optimisation of products with regard to sustainability. This work proposes that the coordinate space of materials only makes sense if it is related to what is available in the specific manufacturing process.