Advances in Manufacturing, Laser Additive Techniques: Case Study

Manufacturing in any nation’s economy is important to the standard of living of the populace. The advancement of manufacturing has provided an avenue for improved development of products and services. The impact and recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) and robotics on the sustainability of manufacturing are examined. There is no doubt that the application of advanced manufacturing will influence the fourth industrial revolution and will be characterized by advancement in the manufacturing system. Additive manufacturing is in the category of laser processed and electron beam processed robotics, modeling, and simulation, which are some of the features through which global advancement in manufacturing and economy development will be achieved. The applications of laser additive manufacturing (LAM) have been viewed in the area of aerospace, medical, and fine art. The potency of LAM as regards to aerospace, medical sciences, and artworks had been established. Trends and benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) that transient to LAM were also documented. The graphical classification of LAM and the costs models to maximize production and minimize cost during LAM were also documented. Laser cleaning to recover historical, treasury, and cultural materials especially archaeological metals, statues, paper, marbles, and stone were also documented. Methods of analyzing and diagnosing structures, components in laser artworks were established and reported. The possibility of indefinite continuity of emerging technologies, including the sustainability of advanced manufacturing technologies, is of great concern. These technologies are just emerging. For optimal planning, therefore, the sustainability of these cutting-edge technologies must be properly investigated to avoid the problem of discontinuity in the future. The ability to continue the processes, equipment, and applications indefinitely is considered. Also, the competitive advantage of these technologies over the previous ones, as regards their sustainability, is considered. Some theoretical methods, useful as tools in advanced manufacturing, are also considered. In particular, some basic Mathematical, Operational Research, Heuristic, and Statistical techniques are discussed. These techniques/methods are very handy in many areas of advanced manufacturing processes, including process planning optimization, modeling, and analysis. Generally, the production rate requires the application of Mathematical methods. Also, do modeling and simulation (MandS) of LAM processes. The optimization of the resulting models is obtained by using some mathematical, operations research, heuristic, and statistical techniques. These and some solved examples are explained in this chapter. LAM is rapidly growing beyond a method for rapid prototyping to a technique of manufacturing products for advanced applications such as in aerospace and biomedical fields. Just like other additive manufacturing (AM) methods, LAM offers the advantages of producing complex and intricate components. Additionally, LAM is associated with less waste as compared with the subtractive/conventional methods of manufacturing and the processing is not limited by the tool as it is the case of machining methods. Despite these advantages, the applications of AM are limited by the initial cost of equipment, high costs of maintenance and running equipment (such as lasers), microstructural defects, and lack of appropriate skills among the workforce to run the advanced manufacturing sector. Challenges in advanced manufacturing technologies are highlighted with a focus on LAM. Some possible solutions to addressing these challenges are also suggested in this chapter.