Investigating the ‘techno-eco-efficiency’ performance of pump impellers: metal 3D printing vs. CNC machining

Abstract

The economic, environmental, and social impacts caused by the extensive resource consumption and harmful emissions from the metal manufacturing industry should be lowered through innovative sustainable manufacturing strategies. This study aims to investigate the techno-eco-efficiency performance of metal 3D-printed parts in comparison with CNC-machined parts to determine the technical, economic, and environmental performance as a decision support tool for selecting the most techno-eco-efficient manufacturing method. In this study, a novel metal extrusion 3D printing technology has been used to create a centrifugal semi-open pump impeller in 316L stainless steel material. The technical feasibility of the impellers has been determined by evaluating the geometry, build material, mechanics, morphology, and functional performance of the impellers. The eco-efficiency performance of technically feasible impellers was evaluated through environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and portfolio analysis. This eco-efficiency analysis helped ascertain the cost-competitiveness and environmentally friendliness of the 3D-printed impellers by comparing it with the conventional impellers. The findings reveal that the AM impeller is eco-efficient mainly due to lower normalised environmental impacts (54.6%) compared to the SM impeller. The functional parts made by metal extrusion 3D printing are technically feasible, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly compared to the SM counterparts.