Life Cycle Energy Assessment Methodology, Tool and Case Studies for Additive Manufacturing

The overall goal of this report is to define a methodology to consistently calculate the life cycle energy consumption and savings for RD&D projects in AM. The approach is to define and calculate the energy requirements at each step of the AM process - drawing in part from the wide range of primary data available from subject matter experts at ORNL. ORNL has developed an AM life cycle specific methodology, basic tool with guidance and has provided some case studies in this report to inform RD&D researchers on how to perform these calculations. Many of the researchers in AM might not be familiar with life cycle energy assessment and therefore providing this information will serve this community as well as DOE in determining the impact of AM RD&D activities. Further effort to create a library of material and process data will be used to refine the tool and methodology.