Abstract
Aim of the GOALS project is to investigate the design for new additive manufacturing technologies from the conceptual design phase to final test cases and to introduce new performance indexes, in adding to the classic ones, relative to environmental impacts of the product. The main objective of the project is defining new ways to optimize a general product exploiting the freedom guaranteed by new additive technologies. In particular, the use of techniques for printing multi-materials and so heterogeneous objects, varying the composition in different ways will be deeply considered. In a first phase the project will be focused on the development of new methods for the design of functionally graded additive manufacturing products (FGAM). Aim of this first phase is to develop a tool that, with a set of parameters, allows to control the density of the structure and the main features of the final CAD model. The great freedom of the parameters involved during the design phase will be exploited for carrying out an optimization process in different fields. Aim of the second phase is to fill the gap between engineering performance and environmental performance and defining a unique parameter that resumes the behavior of the component in these two fundamental areas. For the engineering performance indexes will be introduced new concepts not only based on structural stresses and reduction of weight, but also dependent on other engineering problems: the noise with respect the volume occupied, the heat transfer coefficient with respect to the weight, the ergonomic of the product with respect to the volume. In the area of environment behavior, enhanced performance index based on environmental impacts of the product from cradle-to-grave will be defined in order to use also this parameter as constraint for the final design of the product. This is very important because it is not is guaranteed that the best product in term of engineering performance is also the best one in term of environmental impact. This index is quantified thanks a method like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The optimization process is multi-objective, increasing the engineering performance of the product and decreasing the environmental impacts, so it involves two fundamental aspects of the product: engineering and environment. The feasibility of each design proposed from the optimization process is guaranteed by experimental tests. Important goal of the project is to increase the knowledge of different aspects of the metal printing based on fused deposition modeling (FDM) and furnace sintering, and powder bed fusion technologies. Each conceptual design from optimization process is also constrained by the technological limits. Final tests will be conducted in different areas of engineering. Automotive and aeronautical products will be used as case studies to verify concretely the potentiality of the methodology developed. RESULTS ACHIEVED The GOALS project investigated innovative design approaches for additive manufacturing, from concept development to final testing, introducing new performance indexes that integrate engineering efficiency with environmental impact. The project successfully defined new strategies to optimize products by exploiting the design freedom offered by advanced additive technologies, with a focus on multi-material printing and functionally graded additive manufacturing (FGAM). In its first phase, the project developed a tool capable of controlling structural density and key geometric features of CAD models through adjustable parameters. This enabled extensive optimization across multiple engineering domains. In the second phase, the project bridged the gap between engineering and environmental performance, defining a unified parameter that combines structural, functional, ergonomic, and thermal criteria with cradleto-grave environmental impacts assessed through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). New engineering performance indicators—related not only to stresses and weight reduction but also to noise–volume ratio, thermal efficiency–weight ratio, and ergonomic–volume balance—were successfully integrated with environmental indexes to support multi-objective optimization, ensuring high technical performance while reducing environmental burdens. All optimized design concepts were validated through experimental testing and constrained by real technological capabilities of metal FDM with furnace sintering and powder bed fusion. The methodology was finally demonstrated through case studies in the automotive and aeronautical sectors, confirming the practical feasibility and potential of the developed approach.
Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Alessandro Ceruti
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale
Coordinatore:
Università degli Studi di MESSINA(Italy)
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 47.654,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
28/09/2023
Data di fine:
30/09/2025
