Systematic analysis of additive manufacturing for printing on semi-finished parts

Additive manufacturing has gained significant interest in the industry, and fused filament fabrication in particular is a promising technology. In order to use the full potential of additive manufacturing, deeper understanding in this process is necessary. For this purpose, a profound analysis according to VDI 2206 guideline ("Design methodology for mechatronic systems") is conducted for printing on semi-finished parts with fused filament fabrication. It presents the correlation of mechanical, electrotechnical and information processing components to detect the function chain. The relevant information, energy and material flow within the overall system are identified. New functional problems emerge from the analysis. For instance, the binding of the printed segment to the semi-finishes part needs to be considered. Moreover, the determination of the position and geometry of the semi-finished part poses a challenge. The analysis shows that the system needs to be expanded. To be able to print on semi-finished parts, a monitoring system, an advanced slicing software and a tempering ambience is necessary.