Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Analysis of Additive Manufacturing Repair Processes in the Mold Industry

There is a growing demand for data regarding the environmental and economic performance of additive manufacturing to establish the role of this technology in the future circular industrial economy. This paper provides a comparative analysis of direct energy deposition technology with conventional manufacturing, specifically iron casting, in the context of the repairing capabilities of the direct energy deposition system in a damaged glass bottle mold. Making use of already established methodologies for environmental and economic assessment, a life cycle assessment and a life cycle costing study was conducted on each scenario to provide a holistic perspective on the advantages and limitations of each system. With the gathered life cycle inventory, the main environmental impacts and life cycle costs were determined. The hybrid repairing scenario results show a reduction of the environmental impacts and life cycle costs by avoiding resource consumption in the production of a new mold, with underlying economic advantages identified beyond the calculated results. Through strategic integration based in life cycle approaches, it is concluded that direct energy deposition technology can play a key role in the sustainable development of tooling and manufacturing industries, especially in products with large dimensions, complex geometry, and customized design.