AM Summit 2024 Focuses on Sustainable 3D Printing

I was excited to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark recently to attend Scandinavia’s largest additive manufacturing (AM) conference, the AM Summit, put on by the Danish AM Hub. This was the event’s sixth iteration and was the largest yet, with approximately 1,000 guests, including the exhibitors, according to Chief of Communications Søren Frandsen. 45 speakers took to the three stages to discuss “leading the change in how we design, develop, and produce so we can reduce, reuse, and recycle.”

Transformation from Linear to Circular Value Chains

The focus of the event was sustainable production. Dr. Karsten Heuser, VP of AM for Siemens, discussed how industrial 3D printing can be used to achieve circular value chains.

“In the world we want to live in, we need to look on a broader perspective—upstream, where does the material come from, and downstream, how to manage the whole lifecycle of the product.”

He explained that 80% of all product-related environmental impact is generated in the design phase. Dr. Heuser said we should design for circularity, rather than design for AM, because “additive is the enabler.” For instance, you can reduce the weight of a part, and your overall costs, by using topology optimization during design.

You can save energy with digitally optimized production processes, like simulation and digital twins, and robotic AM makes production more efficient, as it can also incorporate subtractive technology like milling.

Dr. Heuser reminded us that we need to close the loop: recycle our waste, keep products in use as long as possible, and give them a second life.

“Every part you design tomorrow will decide how we live in the future,” he concluded.

Sustainable 3D Printing in Construction

A main focal point of the event space was the I AM MSRHM pavilion, a collaborative effort between Danish AM Hub, MDT, Naturpladen, and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The goal of the pavilion was to find new ways to reduce both material and spatial waste through bio-based materials and AM. It’s made up of interlocking frame elements, 3D printed out of recycled plastic filled with the naturally occurring fungi mycelium.

According to BIG, “The reciprocal frame structures are bespoke in geometry yet modular in their assembly logic, making it possible to be easily put together without scaffolding or specialized knowledge. This method of printing reduces the overall print material, replacing it with a mycelium composite to significantly lower the overall carbon footprint.”

Matteo Baldassari, the founder of Dutch additive construction and architecture company Concr3de, presented on “How Printed Biomass, Metal, and Stone can Impact Construction.” The company relies on flexible binder jet 3D printing, used materials, and sustainable concrete to achieve sustainability in construction AM. In addition to a zero-waste process, Concr3de also employs:

• upcycling
• computational design (reduces the amount of materials used)
• non-toxic chemistry

Concr3de wanted something “more precise and accurate” than material extrusion, and went with binder jetting because it “offers sustainability and versatility and high-end quality.” After a fire devastated Notre Dame in 2019, Concr3de went viral for suggesting that rubble and ash from the cathedral could be used to create 3D printable powder. While the company proved the potential of its idea by 3D printing a replica of the iconic “Le Stryge” gargoyle, the technology was ultimately not used to help rebuild the cathedral, as it was “too special of a project and we were too small of a company.”

Concr3de entered the industrial construction world by using its Mammoth binder jet system to print construction panels for a lab at Empa. Later, the company used wood and concrete to print restorative design elements for the historic Borsen building in Copenhagen, which was also gutted by fire. Then, it began investigating wood waste, or biomass, as well as technical ceramics and tooling materials like foundry sand, and is currently “working on direct 3D printing of metal with binder jetting as well.”

“This opened a lot of other markets to us,” Baldassari said. “We used to be architects, and now we work with energy, consumer, automotive, with key customers in all these fields. We want to collaborate to make this technology more sustainable.”

3D Fashion for a More Sustainable Future

As the founder of Variable Seams, Brigitte Kock designs and teaches about modular 3D printed fabrics. Store-bought clothing is made for the average person, and while tailoring can achieve a perfect fit, it’s time-consuming and expensive. Mass production is “good enough,” but results in over-production and pollution.

“So the next step is mass customization, and using technology to do it in a way that’s cheap,” Kock explained.

There are three main AM techniques for fabric and textiles: 3D printing, 3D knitting, and 3D weaving. But modular fashion, like what Variable Seams offers, features 3D printed interlocking pieces.

Kock shared that the zero-waste green vest she was wearing has three different base modules; you can download a free textile module from Variable Seams to assemble your own garment. The material she uses the most is TPU, though she’s searching for alternatives. But just because she uses plastic doesn’t mean her clothing isn’t more sustainable. It’s just like Concr3de—material is only used exactly where it’s needed, so overall you end up using less.

“People are really focused on [plastic use]. It’s very restricting—don’t use this, don’t do that,” she said. “I thought, ‘We’re not going to be able to change anything fast enough, so why even try?’ But there’s a solution. We used to revere nature, and take care of it. During the Industrial Revolution, we had technology to shelter us through the storm. If something breaks, technology will solve it.”

But Kock suggests that we can do both.

“We are absolutely capable of influencing nature, but so is nature strong enough to influence us. We need to take care of each other.”

She said “our next shared narrative should be one of partnership,” mentioning her collaboration with Balena Science. Kock did acknowledge that it would be difficult for big brands to “pivot in the direction I’m talking about.” She mentioned a conversation she’d had with a lingerie pattern maker, and how the designer wouldn’t share her proprietary formula with Kock to build the piece in her software because “it was her job.”

“So what do we do?” Kock asked.

A very good question.

Biomimicry and 3D Printing

Speaking of nature, Beth Rattner, formerly with the Biomimicry Institute, said that while biomimicry is turning to nature for design inspiration, “I think it’s a lot more than that.”

“I think bio-inspired design will be the next big thing, but what are we making our materials out of? We are advancing faster on the design front than the materials science, and I hope that shifts. I think additive manufacturing can play a role in that pivot.”

A “literal gamechanger” is the fact that people now have access to millions of scientific journals which were previously behind paywalls, so that research can be integrated into workflow tools. Kock is absolutely right—collaboration is how we will advance.

Ayla Kiser, the founder of Luminous Biomimicry, reminded us that “most of the problems we’re trying to solve today have already been solved by nature.” Nature is the original additive manufacturer, and biomimicry is beneficial to four key areas in AM: materials, production design, improved processes, and industrial system design.

“We have 3.8 billion years worth of research and development on how to innovate, productive, and sustainable, which are really the goals we have today for our businesses,” Kiser said.

There are numerous examples of biomimetic 3D printing—robotic arms, fashion, airplane design, electronics, and so on. Even the shape seen all around the event’s branding is based on radiolaria!

Another example of nature-inspired design is the world’s fastest bike: the 3D printed Bolide F HR 3D by Pinarello, which just so happened to be onstage. A humpback whale’s fins have large bumps on them called tubercules, which help maintain lift and reduce drag, enabling the whale to swim more efficiently and make fast, tight turns. The post of the bike has bumps inspired by these tubercules, for the same reasons.

Kiser told the audience that the “true definition of sustainability is giving back and being generous,” and that we “need nature’s input to design systems that are truly resilient.”

“I challenge you all for your next design project – ask how has nature already solved this problem?”

Lilie Boizumault, a bio-inspired R&D project engineer for Bioxegy, emphasized the close link between biomimicry and additive manufacturing, and how often nature can be used to solve problems.

“I see nature as a design book, filled with billions of examples of solutions to different problems. Biomimicry is just the act of taking this book, reading it, and looking for the right solution to inspire me as an engineer to design solutions,” she said. “This is a really thick book – 3.8 billion years of evolution, or R&D. But there’s only one manufacturing process in this huge book, and that’s additive manufacturing.”

Boizumault said that the only issue with AM is the cost, so “it needs to be worth it,” and biomimicry can help with this. A good example is lightweight design, “which you can’t talk about without mentioning Venus’ flower basket.” This glass sponge is very tough, as it lives in the depths of the ocean, and it’s also flexible, because it faces fast-moving currents. But its skeleton, made of squares and double diagonals, was optimized through evolution to be very lightweight. This design principle can be applied to energy-absorbing lattice structures, and “gives engineers one of the best lightweight structures in the world.”

Another example of biomimicry in AM she gave was a heat exchanger for a helicopter engine, the development of which was inspired by the microscopic pattern on the wings of a butterfly that allows it to regulate its temperature without expending any energy. Just like Kiser, she also brought up the Pinarello bike, with its 3D printed frame inspired by whale fin tubercules.

Sports & Transportation

This seems as good a time as any to bring up the 3D printed Bolide F HR 3D bike by Pinarello, which was the focus of a panel discussion between retired professional cyclist Brian Holm; CEO and Co-Founder of NablaFlow Luca Oggiano; and our own Executive Editor Joris Peels, VP of Consulting for AM Research. The panel was moderated by Danish news anchor and cycling commentator Dennis Ritter.

Ritter asked why AM was used for the cycle, and Oggiano said that they “had no other choice.” He called it a complicated process, but said “I can’t imagine any other technology that would allow us to do this” in just two and a half months. Ritter also asked how they came up with the idea of using the tubercule-inspired bumps on the post to increase the bike’s speed.

“We had a range of ideas, and tubercules was one of the ideas that came from multiple sources,” Oggiano said. “The complicated part is the manufacturing side, but that’s where additive came in. We ran 1,600 simulations, and compressed everything. It was the most exciting project.”

AM can offer a big competitive advantage to sporting equipment like cycles, and Peels stated that for the moment, “additive manufacturing and biking are a match made in heaven.”

“We can change the module, we can change properties very locally. Basically, everything becomes clay,” he explained. “We can change everything, and streamline it very specifically, like for one rider or one altitude. Also, if you learn the bike isn’t working well enough, you can reengineer it in just a couple of months.”

Ritter asked Peels where we’ll be in 10-20 years with AM in production, and he answered that saddles are currently a major application that will likely continue to grow. He also believes that 3D printed frames will be more common in 20 years.

Another presentation I enjoyed was a Tech Talk by Helge Schneevogt, Technology Manager for Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company. He explained that while a train is a very durable asset, it’s only redone every 10 years, “and there are a lot of parts in between that must be replaced.”

“Things break. I’m not here to bore you with marketing slides, but to tell you about the reality we face every day. We need lots of specialty parts in small lot sizes,” he said. “Additive manufacturing allows us to be more sustainable and flexible.”

Deutsche Bahn was one of the earlier adopters of AM, starting with just 10 3D printed parts in 2015 and now 3D printing over 150,000 parts. Some of these include an adapter flange, which is used to check pneumatic brake valves, and a sand mold for a gearbox housing used to shunt locomotives.

In terms of sustainability, the company works with recycled materials, localized production, service life extension, and demand-oriented manufacturing. Deutsche Bahn has also been setting up a digital warehouse, which will be stocked with rarely used parts and enable on-demand production.

“We only produce parts that are really needed, which is our effort at sustainability,” Schneevogt said.

AM Strategy for Sustainability

As the focus of AM Summit was on sustainability, I definitely wanted to hear from Sherri Monroe, Executive Director of the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), who told me that over the last couple of years, we’re hearing more and more about sustainability in the AM industry, but the conversation seems to be “maturing and evolving,” with people looking at the bigger picture.

“We’re moving beyond the ‘It has to be sustainable because we’re cutting all this material away’ to ‘How does this really impact energy consumption, material consumption, what kind of waste are you producing,’ and really understanding that whole process,” she said. “Yes, the powder takes more energy to produce, but you have these other savings down the line.”

Monroe says another layer to sustainability in the AM industry is “the strategic business application of additive manufacturing,” which we should all be talking about, as this is “often where the real business benefits of additive lie.” We need to be managing our inventories better, and reducing overproduction, which is environmental as well as economic.

“If you want to make a design change, but we’ve already got 10,000 of these things, so you either have to burn through this suboptimal inventory or trash it, and again, that’s both economic and environmental,” she told me. “I think there’s a lot of business advantages that we’re not quite to the point of exploring as much as we should. When you look at part consolidation, yeah, it gives us less material and that’s valuable, but what does the enhanced durability of that part now do for a business? Now we don’t have to replace it as often, we don’t have failures. What does that do to the broader business? The person doing the production may not care, but the person who has to handle warranties probably would, or the finance person who has all this money tied up on an inventory shelf, they care about that.”

Monroe says these types of conversations are starting to mature a bit more, which is very exciting, because “that’s really where we’re going to see the real uptick in what additive can do.”

Later, Monroe moderated a panel on “AM Strategy for Sustainability” with Benjamin Haller, Managing Director, AM Academy; Jan-Markus Rödger, Partner, Implement Consulting Group; Schneevogt from Deutsche Bahn; and Markus Glasser, Senior VP EMEA, EOS. Monroe asked the panelists if they had difficulty obtaining data from companies, and Haller said that companies are “obliged to share,” as the are of sustainability is “a bit more open to sharing information, as opposed to some others.”

“If you want to have a real conversation about the technologies, you need to share the data, otherwise we’re comparing apples and oranges,” Rödger said.

Schneevogt said it’s still somewhat vague what the environmental footprints of some AM materials are, but more material producers are becoming interested in providing this data to manufacturers, which is great.

Monroe asked if it was possible to quantify the value of AM for the purposes of supply chains, and Rödger said we need to be more clear in client messaging to achieve this, and tailor our messages for the person with whom we’re speaking.

“For instance, do you want to decrease your C02 emissions? Additive manufacturing can contribute by 3%,” he said.

Haller said there are many great use cases out there, and that AM can have a major impact on scale, but that it’s “a very small group of experts that come to the trade fairs, and we need to spread the message.” Glasser believes we need applications that are real production cases, with thousands of parts, while Rödger said a common database about the part and its environmental information “will offer the full picture.” Schneevogt agreed, noting that “we’re in the process of gathering data and finding missing pieces” and tools like C02 calculators will be more helpful than years-long life cycle assessments.

Conclusion

I thought AM Summit was a really great event. Sustainability is such an important topic for our industry, and I enjoyed that every one of the presentations I attended was focused on it in some way, whether it was from a design point of view or a business one. I liked the venue, and the headphones that were passed out to attendees for the presentations on the two smaller stages were extremely helpful; I didn’t miss a single word! I was also excited for the chance to try the 3D printed vegan salmon FILET from Revo Foods (the color was right but the texture was not) and a tasty augmented cocktail from the award-winning Print A Drink.

Take a look at more of my pictures from AM Summit 2024 below:

Images courtesy of the author.