Cost Analysis of Mass Finishing Additively Manufactured Ti6Al4V Parts

Postprocessing for surface improvement has become one of the major cost factors in Additive Manufacturing (AM). Mass Finishing (MF) technologies, such as Centrifugal Disc Finishing (CDF), can batch-processing and fixture-free-processing to achieve the desired surface roughness and characteristics. Therefore, applications of MF technologies for metal AM surface improvement are potentially more cost-effective and offer higher design freedom. In this study, comprehensive numerical models for unit part cost are developed to understand the economic benefits of AM+MF hybrid manufacturing system. A case study on AM Ti6Al4V with CDF surface improvement was conducted for cost estimation, followed by a sensitivity analysis to validate the model. It was shown that the batch size is the key influencer in the AM+MF cost model (53% cost reduction for batch size n=10), where the largest contributing cost component varies according to processing batch size. Finally, the unit cost of AM+MF is compared with sand blasting, and the result showed that an optimal batch size exists for MF to become the more cost-effective choice. In addition, this developed model can potentially benefit the AM community by serving as a decision-making tool when considering using MF for surface improvement.