Comparative Design Catalogue for Powder Bed and Wire Arc Metal Additive Manufacturing

Design catalogues form a key element in design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) approaches. The contained design guidelines support users in design parts that meet additive manufacturing (AM)-specific requirements. Several design catalogues focusing on metal laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) have been proposed in the past. However, a lack of comprehensive catalogues for metal wire arc additive manufacturing (DED-Arc) and electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB/M) has been determined. This work proposes a “cross-process” design catalogue for three technologies: PBF-LB/M, PBF-EB/M and DED-Arc/M. It supports users in designing parts according to the specific demands of each AM technology, additionally allowing a comparative analysis of the technologies. The design catalogue is created based on a literature research of existing design catalogues and guidelines such as relevant standards, along with a consultation of industry experts. The introduced design catalogue lays the foundation for an extensive design catalogue of even more AM technologies.