Environmental performance of additive manufacturing process - an overview

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to overview the literature about the environmental performance of additive manufacturing (AM) and to evaluate the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) on these studies. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on the systematic literature review. Findings The investigation found that most authors were concerned about the energy consumption of the AM equipment, which is the subject studied by 87% of articles. In addition, 25% of the studies used LCA at least in some level, making a global environment assessment to evaluate the environmental impacts of AM. By analyzing research studies, it was possible to find signs that AM could be a lower environmental impact process, when compared with traditional manufacturing. However, this assumption is not valid in all cases because there are many variables that may affect environmental results. Originality/value Due to the increase on the usage of this type of technology by industries, studies on the environmental performance of this process became relevant.