Investigating the impact of additive manufacturing data exchange standards for re-distributed manufacturing

Abstract

The paradigm shift towards a decentralised approach of cloud manufacturing requires tighter standardisation and efficient interfaces between additive manufacturing (AM) data and production. In parallel with technology advancements, it is important to consider the digital chain of information. Although a plethora of AM formats exist, only some are commonly used for data transfer. None of these AM data transfer standards specifically addresses the needs of the redistributed manufacturing (RDM) landscape. The purpose of this study is to identify the required features for AM data transfer standards to support a RDM landscape. The study examined the data flow from CAD to AM and reviewed established shortcomings of existing data exchange standards such as STL. After identifying the data exchange standards for AMF, 3MF, STEP and STEP-NC as promising replacements for STL, their premises, objectives, contributions and advantages were reviewed. The role of AM to support RDM by overcoming tooling costs and the associated need for economies of scale was also reviewed. Focus group interviews and surveys were conducted with AM and RDM experts from industry and academia and the participants' accounts were analysed for common themes and narratives. Finally, the suitability of existing data transfer formats was examined by compiling existing and expected standard features and having them rated by AM experts. The study showed that STEP-NC and AMF standards are ahead in implementing the most highly valued data transfer features. Open standards are also expected to further facilitate innovation in AM. The survey also identified that the top five features deemed most important by the participants for data exchange formats for RDM were regular internal structures/lattices, manufacturing tolerances, geometric representation, curvature representation, and surface structures. This study has contributed towards evaluating existing standards and their future development and adoption. It is hoped that the results will benefit policy makers and industry leaders to be aware of the importance of data exchange standards for AM so as to pave a clear roadmap for the Digital Economy in a RDM landscape.

A Systematic Approach for Evaluating the Adoption of Additive Manufacturing in the Product Design Process

“…The development of complex and organic shapes is based on traditional geometric modelling in CAD systems, even if new emerging tools and Topology Optimization (TO) systems are also used for this purpose [15]. The 3D CAD models are exchanged with other tools using STL, or better, by AMF, 3MF, STEP and STEP-NC formats, which are all geometric exchange file formats which provide appropriate set of data [16]. Simulations with specific Computer Aided Design (CAE) software are usually necessary to foresee manufacturing distortions due to thermal effects and improve the surface quality by operating on part orientation and production parameters.…”

A review of geometry representation and processing methods for cartesian and multiaxial robot-based additive manufacturing

“…STEP is one of the most widespread file formats for the BRep and is widely accepted by mechanical solid modeling software. STEP stores the solid geometry and topology and adopts analytical formulations providing a high geometry accuracy [65,194]. Nowadays, STEP 214 and STEP 242 also provide technological and production data.…”

“…Other file formats have been developed to overcome such limits [65]. Additive Manufacturing File (AMF) file is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format developed to encode a much more comprehensive set of geometric and technological data [66].…”

Strength of Contact Geometry for Multi‐material 3D‐Printed Samples

“…Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technology in which a thermoplastic material is forced through a heated nozzle and precisely deposited in the desired regions in the shape of layers built on top of each other. [1] All AM processes use three-dimensional input data in mesh format (e.g., STL), transferred in the machine's software [2] and then sliced in layers with a defined height. In order to provide the desired physical properties, multiple parameters must be adjusted depending on the product's functional requirements and the DOI: 10.1002/masy.202100320 used material (e.g., extrusion width, number of perimeters, extrusion temperature, deposition speed.…”