1. The high degree of freedom in additive manufacturing design helps the automotive industry reduce its carbon footprint by 80% in the fixture production process.
2. Optimize the production process through digital twins to reduce carbon emissions in the production process.
3. Reduce carbon emissions during warehousing and transportation through decentralized production.
4. 3D printing with biodegradable materials reduces pollution.
Siemens presents its additive manufacturing sustainable development solutions at the 2022 Formnext additive manufacturing international trade exhibition. Through multiple application cases, Siemens comprehensively demonstrated how to implement the concept of sustainable development throughout the product life cycle, realize resource conservation, reduce carbon footprint in the production process, and help achieve global climate governance goals.
Green solution for fixture additive manufacturing
Siemens' fixture solutions used in the automotive industry fully demonstrate the important role of optimized design in the realization of green additive manufacturing. In this case, using the NX software platform for the additive manufacturing industry, Siemens established a seamless digital process chain, using topology optimization to find the optimal design and then testing it using finite element method (FEM) simulations. Through an optimized design, the total mass of the fixture was reduced by 64%, significantly reducing the required manufacturing materials. Siemens' "Teamcenter Product Cost Management Solution" and "Product Carbon Footprint Calculator" functions can also optimize production costs and carbon footprints. In this case, it was initially planned to build a fixture that was assembled from more than 660 parts and weighed 58 kg. The weight of the final product is not only greatly reduced, but the flexible design also reduces the complexity of assembly, saving 80% of assembly time. Compared with traditional design methods, the use of additive design has reduced production costs by 73% and reduced carbon footprint by 82% in this case. After the weight of the fixture is reduced, it can be manipulated by a smaller robot, which can further save energy consumption by 54% per year.
Optimizing energy consumption through digital transformation
Siemens and GENRA have reached cooperation in the field of additive manufacturing. GENERA adopted Siemens Aventura's "Additive Manufacturing Digital Factory Planning Toolkit" to simulate the industrial production of plug connectors using digital light processing. By establishing a digital twin of the production process, the energy consumption of 3D printers in different machine states can be accurately and transparently analyzed without affecting the normal operation of the system. Thanks to more efficient energy management, energy consumption can be reduced by 25% to 30% when producing individual components, depending on printer utilization.
Development of environmentally friendly materials
Siemens also demonstrated its 3D printing of environmentally friendly materials for the construction and infrastructure construction industries, which can achieve biodegradation and provide great potential for the sustainable development of the industry.
Additive manufacturing machine manufacturer CEAD and Dutch composites specialist Poly Products have jointly developed a 3D printing linen port fender. Port fenders can provide a buffer when the ship is docked on the shore so that the shore wall will not cause heavy damage to the outer wall of the ship. Port fenders are often made of plastic, and everyday wear and tear can cause harmful plastics to flow into the ocean. The linen fenders produced by 3D printing are as strong as traditional fenders, but have a smaller carbon footprint during production and are 100% biodegradable, making them more environmentally friendly. The 3D printer that produced the material is equipped with a Siemens Sinumerik 840D sl control system, which enables precise control of the robot's complex movements, ensuring accurate material application and component milling.
Building an Additive Manufacturing Network
Reduce carbon footprint during production
Additive manufacturing is driving the manufacturing industry towards "decentralization", and the existing high-cost physical inventory will be transformed into a digital warehouse to achieve nearby production. This can not only improve the flexibility of the supply chain but also reduce inventory costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions during transportation. Siemens' additive manufacturing digital solution will support organizations to build and authenticate digital assets and integrate them into a unified "library", allowing users to place orders with one click according to their needs. The Siemens Additive Manufacturing Network can find matching production sites according to the user's manufacturing needs, greatly improving the response speed and equipment utilization of each production site. This mode can effectively avoid unnecessary downtime and optimize the energy consumed by the 3D printer to warm up and cool down. The Siemens additive manufacturing network also supports enterprises to communicate based on the digital platform, so as to optimize the allocation of production facilities and respond to production needs efficiently.