Life Cycle Assessment of Metal Products Produced by Additive Manufacturing: A Metal Mold Case Study

Additive manufacturing represents a promising technology with strong potential for future applications, which isever widening due to the progressive removal of technological andeconomic barriers. This study is directed at quantifying theenvironmental and economic benefits, across the entire life cycle,of the application of additive technology direct metal laser sintering(DMLS) in the production of metal molds in comparison with theirconventional production. The molds produced by the technologiesunder comparison are designed for die casting of zinc parts for theautomotive industry. An important part of this article is an overviewand comparison of available life cycle analysis studies focused on theadditive manufacturing of metals. The results of this studydemonstrate that although the material used in 3D printing bringshigher environmental impacts and is significantly more expensive, even in the production phase additive technology is associatedwith lower impacts in most categories evaluated by the chosen method of IMPACT 2002+. Even greater benefits are associated withthe use phase. Similar results are achieved in the evaluation of levels of cumulative energy demand, greenhouse emissions, and lifecycle costs