Shihab Al Tobi, Safwan Zayed Submitted by: Safwan Zayed

Additive Manufacturing
1. Executive Summary:
A sporting-goods company, specialized in footwear, personal protective equipment, and
playing equipment, is aiming to incorporate Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies into
its’ business line. Multiple AM techniques and potential uses were investigated. Selective
Laser Melting (SLM) was studied and considered as a potential AM technique to mass-
produce different playing equipment. In addition, the use of Stereolithography (SLA) to help
produce better moulds for different casting techniques was researched. After taking into
account time, cost, and quality, it was found that leveraging SLA to produce more detailed
and complex moulds is the best option for the company to take forward, due to the diverse
and detailed mould shapes it can produce, and the superior mechanical properties that are
obtained from traditional casting techniques.
2. Introduction:
A sports-hardware company with a diverse set of products, ranging from footwear to
personal protective equipment and playing equipment, is looking to integrate Additive
Manufacturing techniques into its’ manufacturing process. Initially, the company is
investigating the use of AM techniques to manufacture playing equipment, which include:
Golf clubs, hockey sticks, and metal baseball bats. These items are mainly manufactured
from metals. In addition, these items require high dimensional accuracy and a smooth
surface finish to meet their desired specifications. As such, the potential Additive
Manufacturing techniques must be effective in producing metallic parts with high precision
and great surface quality.

3. Review of Technology:
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the process of translating a 3D digital design into a 3D
physical model/part, by building it layer by layer [1]. Using AM has many advantages; it
minimizes waste material, and can produce complex geometries which were unachievable
with traditional manufacturing techniques. AM offers the use of many materials, including:
Metals, polymers, ceramics, plastics, and much more. Different techniques exist to work
with different materials. Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), for instance, is developed to work with
metals. Whereas, vat polymerization is used with photopolymers.
3.1 Powder Bed Fusion (PBF):
Powder Bed Fusion is a group of
AM techniques, shown in Figure 1,
which are used for metallic
materials. Powder Bed Fusion (PBF)
and Directed Energy Deposition
(DED) are techniques which use
powder metal. The main techniques

Figure 1: Technologies of AM for metallic materials [2]

Shihab Al Tobi, Safwan Zayed Submitted by: Safwan Zayed

of PBF are Selective Laser Melting/Sintering (SLM/SLS), electron beam melting (EBM) and
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). Under DED the main process is using laser to form the
structure [3].
3.2 Vat Polymerization:
Vat polymerization is a family
of AM techniques, which uses
a light source to cure a liquid
photopolymer resin in a vat,
layer by layer [4]. The two
main vat polymerization
methods are (as shown in
Figure 2): Stereolithography Figure 2: Vat polymerization techniques [5]
(SLA), and Digital Light Processing (DLP). The differentiating factor between the two
methods is the light source. SLA, for instance, uses a UV laser to accurately cure the polymer
resin. DLP, on the other hand, uses a digital projector to solidify a layer in one go by flashing
a single image over the layer. For both methods, however, post-processing steps are
required. After printing, the part needs to be cleaned from the resin and exposed to a UV
source to improve its’ strength. Additionally, the support structures, created during printing
to support the part from breaking, need to be removed [5]. The two methods tend to
produce relatively similar results. However, SLA is considered more accurate, due to the
higher precision obtained from using a laser source, instead of a pixelated image, as is the
case for DLP.

4. Promising Technologies:
4.1 The case for SLM: (Shihab)
Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is one of the promising techniques of additive manufacturing
(AM). A metallic powder bed is used in SLM, with a high power-density source (laser) to
fully melt the powder and manufacture products, which can be prototyping products or
practicable items [6]. The wanted parts (which are produced by SLM) are obtained after
completing several steps. First, after designing the product in a 3D CAD model by using any
software, the 3D design is transformed into layers
(cross-section) in the appropriate file format.
Then, the machine’s software will receive the file.
To guarantee building quality, a set of parameters
will be selected (depending on the material and
product). After that, the powder will be placed
into the manufacturing area which will be hit by
the laser. The focused laser is controlled by the
uploaded file that contains the machine settings.
After melting the powder, the layer will be

Figure 3: SLM printing [5]

Shihab Al Tobi, Safwan Zayed Submitted by: Safwan Zayed

fabricated, and a new amount of powder will be deposited for a new layer. All steps will be
repeated until reaching the desired product [7].
By fully understanding the process and important elements of SLM, the product’s quality
can be significantly improved [7]. These elements are shown in Figure 1. The only source of
heat and power is the laser, which has a magnificent effect on the process performance.
Scanning optics is controlling the speed and the technique of scanning. The dispenser and
recoater (roller) are in control in placing the powder for a new layer. As a result, the quality
and performance are affected by these elements. The chamber which affects the quality of
the desired product. The layer thickness used in the SLM technique is in the range of 10-100
µm. However, to reach a better surface quality and for more resolving to occur, it is
recommended to use a layer thickness of approximately 30 µm [8].
SLM techniques can produce different types of geometries (complex or simple), decent
surface finish, lightweight weight structure with good mechanical properties and internal
channels to get the higher performance of the product [7]. One brilliant benefit of SLM is
that a group of the same product can be manufactured at the exact moment. Moreover,
different products with the same metallic powder can be placed together (depending on the
size of the chamber) [8]. On the other hand, there are limitations in using SLM such as:
fabricating multi-material structures, and in some cases, treatment is required [2]. For
example, after applying the laser to the powder it will expand. After the laser is stopped,
shrinkage will occur in the part. This will cause residual stresses to build up, which can be
the reason for the structure to fail. To prevent this, post-heat treatment is required to relief
the residual stresses before the final stage [8, 9].

4.2 The case for SLA: (Safwan)

Stereolithography (SLA) is a vat photopolymerization technique. Vat photopolymerization
refers to the process of building a model in a vat (tank) of a photopolymer resin. The resin is
solidified, layer by layer, by exposing it to light at a certain wavelength [10]. In an SLA
printer, the build plate is positioned inside a tank (or vat) of photopolymer resin, as shown
in Figure 1. The build platform is positioned such that a very thin layer of resin covers the
surface. Using a scanning mirror, a laser is then directed to scan and photochemically cure
the desired regions in the resin surface. When a layer is finished, the platform moves up one
layer-height, and a sweeper blade applies a new layer of uncured resin on the cured surface.
Then, similarly, the laser solidifies the
new layer, and the process is repeated
until the build is complete.
After post-processing, SLA parts have a
very smooth surface finish. Moreover,
due to the small laser spot size and
minuscule layer height (which ranges
from 25 to 100 microns) [11], SLA is well-
suited to produce parts with

Figure 4: SLA printing [12]

Shihab Al Tobi, Safwan Zayed Submitted by: Safwan Zayed

fine/intricate details and with high dimensional accuracy. Since SLA does not rely on heat to
solidify parts, and only requires a laser scan, the technology is massively scalable, and can
produce substantially large parts. With such attributes, SLA is ideal for indirect tooling. The
smooth surface finish and ability to capture intricate details can help produce high-quality
and complex moulds. These moulds can then be used in more traditional and common
manufacturing techniques, such as: Sand casting, and injection moulding.
There are limitations to consider when producing parts using SLA. Since SLA utilizes
photopolymers which are thermosets, the produced parts tend to be brittle. As such, SLA is
not typically used to manufacture functional parts. In addition, photopolymers are UV
sensitive. Meaning, they are prone to degrade over time, especially in the presence of direct
sunlight. SLA printing normally requires the use of support structures during the making of
the parts, as well as post processing [5]. These steps can potentially result in significant time
delays and additional costs, if not accounted for appropriately.

5. Conclusion:
This report aimed to identify the relevant and appropriate Advanced Manufacturing
techniques which can be implemented in a sporting-goods company. The main focus was on
techniques which were able to produce precise metallic parts with a great surface quality to
meet the products’ specifications. The products included gaming equipment, such as golf
clubs, hockey sticks, and metal baseball bats. Selective Laser Melting (SLM), as well as
Stereolithography (SLA) were investigated in detail as potential techniques. It was found
that both methods are very promising, but SLA might be the better choice for the company.
With precise dimensions and a high-quality surface finish, SLA is capable of producing
excellent moulds, which can then be used in casting methods to produce the desired parts.
Shihab Al Tobi, Safwan Zayed Submitted by: Safwan Zayed

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