Flexible manufacturing with an additive process chain design, production and surface finish

The industrial demand for flexible and innovative manufacturing technologies is continuously increasing. These technologies have to be sustainable and resource-efficient, and have to allow the production of long-life capital goods. Consequently, the additive processes gain in importance as they offer an enormous potential of application, especially for the turbomachinery industry. In order to use additive manufacturing technologies in industrial applications, it is necessary to consider the complete process chain, including all necessary pre- and postprocessing. Although additive manufacturing is increasingly covered in scientific research, the linking between this technology and conventional industrial processes is rarely described.