Urska Kostevsek, Tomaz Brajlih, Joze Balic, Žiga Kadivnik and Igor Drstvensek
Fixed structures in prosthetic dentistry are highly customized products, manufactured individually for patients who have missing teeth. When choosing the technology for fixed…
Abstract
Purpose
Fixed structures in prosthetic dentistry are highly customized products, manufactured individually for patients who have missing teeth. When choosing the technology for fixed dental structure manufacturing, three viable options are available (precise casting, milling and selective laser melting [SLM]). All these technologies can be used to produce a dental structure from CoCr alloy. Besides materials and availability of technologies, economic efficiency is an important factor when choosing a production method. The purpose of this study is to develop an estimation model for achievable productivity of selective laser melting and compare the results with the productivity of conventional manufacturing.
Design/methodology/approach
Results presented in this paper are based on manufacturing time analysis of an individual case with each of the technologies mentioned above. Because of the efficiency of SLM is highly dependent on how efficiently the work space of the machine is used, this issue was also included in the research. Data used for research were acquired from practical use of each technology in dental applications.
Findings
Analysis of achievable SLM manufacturing speeds is based on the previous research into manufacturing speeds of additive manufacturing technologies. The presented results present a model that can be used to estimate the productivity of the SLM technology.
Research limitations/implications
Research was limited to a specific SLM machine type with a fixed workspace volume. Nevertheless, the results show that any SLM machine has to be used as efficiently as possible to be able to be competitive regarding the conventional manufacturing technologies.
Practical implications
The presented results show clearly at least a rough estimation of what kind of parts and in what volume will be manufactured with an SLM machine prior to buying one.
Social implications
Results can help to widen the economically efficient way of running SLM machines, replacing conventional manufacturing for medical applications especially with complicated cases.
Originality/value
A method is presented to adapt the estimation model to a particular real-life production scenario. This method can be used to establish how efficiently selective laser sintering can be used and if using SLM machine instead of conventional manufacturing would be economically viable.
Details
Keywords
Tomaz Brajlih, Matej Paulic, Tomaz Irgolic, Ziga Kadivnik, Joze Balic and Igor Drstvensek
This paper aims to present a comparison between selective laser sintering and injection moulding technology for the production of small batches of plastic products.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a comparison between selective laser sintering and injection moulding technology for the production of small batches of plastic products.
Design/methodology/approach
The comparison is based on analysing the time–cost efficiencies of each manufacturing process regarding the size of the series for the selected product sample. Both technologies are described and the times and costs of those individual processes needed to create a final product are assessed when using each of the manufacturing processes.
Findings
The study shows that the time-cost efficiency of the selected laser sintering technology increases according to the complexity of the product and decreases with increasing series size and product volume.
Research limitations/implications
The study and absolute values of the presented results are limited to a selected plastic product, but the series size-focused efficiency analysis could be expanded to general cases.
Originality/value
The presented analysis could be used as a general guideline for a decision-making process regarding the more efficient manufacturing method. In addition, the results show the viability of using selective laser sintering during the early stages of production when fast product availability is required, regardless of the series size. Also, some complementary effects of using both technologies in the serial production of the same part are discussed.