Design for additive manufacturing: simplification of product architecture by part consolidation for the lifecycle

Additive manufacturing (AM) can support the fabrication of the complex design and generate new design opportunities for improving products. To identify and leverage these opportunities, design studies in early product design stages are required. Since part consolidation is one of AM design potentials in conceptual and embodiment design stages, this study proposes a design method to reconceptualize existing product design in the context of part consolidation. Function requirements and physical relations between existing parts are used to investigate AM design potential and identify candidates for consolidation. After identification of consolidation candidates, function sharing between parts and modules is checked because they have high possibilities to be consolidated if they share the same functions. Furthermore, AM design potential is identified to help designers add value in part design. In order to support designers, it is required to link AM design potential to the part candidates in order to explore AM design benefits. A case study with motorcycles is performed to demonstrate the proposed method. The AM design potential for the case study contains the lifecycle considerations related to fuel savings due to lightweight, and simplified and less expensive assembly operations due to simplified product architecture by part consolidation.