Reusable unit process life cycle inventory (UPLCI) for manufacturing: laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF)

In many industrial applications, laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) has been recognized for its flexibility in Net Shape Manufacturing. During the process, the feedstock is deposited and selectively fused with a thermal joining via laser power. In this work, the unit process life cycle inventory methodology (UPLCI) was used to discretize energy consumption and material losses for modeling the L-PBF process. A reusable approach in terms of materials, parameters, and calculation tools is presented, to estimate the energy consumption and mass loss in practical evaluations of production lines. Calculations of energy were obtained and classified as basic, idle, and active energy. Theoretical equations were also shown to relate the most important parameters of the process with its energy consumption. Finally, a case study is presented to analyze the UPLCI capacity to improve energy consumption in the manufacturing of medical devices.