Sustainability evaluation of additive manufacturing processes using grey-based approach

Abstract

Purpose Sustainable manufacturing facilitates the development of products with lower environmental impact. Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are incorporated with sustainable characteristics such as minimum material consumption, energy efficiency and minimum transportation. The purpose of this paper is to report a study on sustainability evaluation of AM process using a grey-based approach. Design/methodology/approach Sustainable AM process is gaining importance. From this viewpoint, this paper presents the evaluation of sustainability of AM process. The evaluation model includes 3 enablers, 18 criteria and 54 attributes. Grey-based approach is used for sustainability evaluation. Expert inputs are used for computing the grey index. Expert inputs are obtained and they are aggregated at three levels to calculate the overall grey performance index, which indicates sustainability level of AM processes. Furthermore, weaker areas are identified through determination of grey performance importance index (GPII) values. Findings The calculated grey index is (3.510, 16.177), which implies that AM process is sustainable. Weaker attributes are determined on the basis of the computation of GPII values. Practical implications The study has been executed on the basis of the opinion from experts with practical experience. Hence, the inferences are found to be practically feasible. The identified weaker attributes from the study would enable the manufacturers and practitioners to focus more on weaker areas for enhancing the sustainability of AM processes. The study has made an evaluation from sustainability perspective of AM processes, which would enable practitioners to assess AM processes from TBL sustainability orientation. Originality/value The development of sustainability evaluation model and application of a grey-based approach for assessment of AM process are the original contributions of this study.

Evaluation of smart manufacturing performance using a grey theory-based approach: a case study

“…There are four potential instances of the real numerical axis for the position relationship among ⊗P 1 and ⊗P 2 . The relationship between ⊗P 1 and ⊗P 2 is determined as follows (Agrawal and Vinodh, 2020):…”

“…There are four potential instances of the real numerical axis for the position relationship among ⊗ P 1 and ⊗ P 2 . The relationship between ⊗ P 1 and ⊗ P 2 is determined as follows (Agrawal and Vinodh, 2020):If trueP¯ 1 = trueP¯ 2 and P¯ 1 = P¯ 2, then D {⊗ P 1 ≤ ⊗ P 2 } = 0.5.If ⊗ P 2 > ⊗ P 1 then D {⊗ P 1 ≤ ⊗ P 2 } = 1.If ⊗ P 2 < ⊗ P 1 then D {⊗ P 1 ≤ ⊗ P 2 } = 0.If any intercrossing is identified among ⊗ P 1 and ⊗ P 2, when D {⊗ P 1 ≤ ⊗ P 2}> 0.5, it is represented as ⊗ P 2 > ⊗ P 1, which means ⊗ P 2 is higher than ⊗ P 1. When D {⊗ P 1 ≤ ⊗ P 2 }< 0.5, then it is represented as ⊗ P 2 <⊗ P 1, which means ⊗ P 2 is lower than ⊗ P 1 .…”

“…Steps involved in the grey-based technique (Agrawal and Vinodh, 2020)Phase 1: Establishment of linguistic scale for data collection to examine ratings and weights of performance for the evaluation model.Phase 2: Approximation of the ratings and weight data obtained.Phase 3: Computation of criteria performance rating.Phase 4: Computation of the overall grey performance index (OGPI).Phase 5: Computation of the grey performance importance index (GPII).Phase 6: Finally, computation of the GPD and ranking sequence of performance attributes.…”

Prioritization of Challenges for the Effectuation of Sustainable Additive Manufacturing: A Case Study Approach

“…The inputs were then converted to gray numbers, which are shown in Table 4. The final step was to calculate the distance of each challenge with the PIS and NIS using Equations ( 6) and (7). Equation ( 8) was used to calculate the closeness rating of each challenge with the PIS, and finally, ranking of the challenges was performed based on the closeness value.…”

“…Sustainable manufacturing concepts facilitate the development of products with minimal impact on the environment [6]. Sustainability in manufacturing brings environmental benefits and economic and societal benefits [7]. Sustainability in AM or sustainable additive manufacturing (SAM) gains importance due to advantages such as enhanced design freedom, product functionality, recycling potential, and so on [8].…”