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Biomimetics as well as additive manufacturing have prominently produced novel design approaches for parts and products independently from each other. The combination of both has resulted in numerous innovative part designs that were unseen before. However remarkable the marketing impact of individual 3D printed biomimetic parts has been, a widespread industrial application is missing to date. This publication, therefore, takes a closer look at how biomimetic design in additive manufacturing is currently pursued and evaluates the different design approaches based on their suitability for industrial application. The assessment reveals that algorithms and thesaurus tools should be preferred in an industrial biomimetic design process. From the various additive manufacturing methods, laser additive manufacturing today is a dominating industrial application when it comes to metal parts. Thus, several case studies of biomimetic designs produced with laser additive manufacturing are presented. On the basis of the selected examples, the added value through biomimetic design is discussed and reviewed critically, raising the question of when a biomimetic design approach is promising compared to conventional design approaches. Based on the review of current use cases and the potentials that the combination of biomimetics and additive manufacturing offer, recommended fields of research are concluded. Finally, the road to industry for biomimetic additive manufacturing design is outlined, taking into account the findings on existing biomimetic design methodologies and tools.

Additive manufacturing is gaining importance in different industries, being on the verge to broad industrial application. Especially in laser beam melting (LBM) of metals, support structures play a vital role in the successful production of parts, since they are responsible for supporting overhanging features and preventing warpage. Today, these support structures are often massive and lead to high postprocessing effort for removal and surface finishing. Existing structures do not meet the needs of the individual part, adding cost to the production of additive parts without even fulfilling all their respective tasks. To reduce the manufacturing and finishing effort in LBM, new ways of support structure application have to be found. One way to decrease the material consumption, and therefore the overall costs in terms of raw material and manufacturing effort, is to use topology optimization for the generation of support structures. This study presents an extension of the current approaches, which take into account the task of supporting overhanging features, by using a finite element analysis of the manufacturing process of LBM to assess the loads applied to the support structures by residual stresses during the manufacturing process. This is critical especially to the LBM of metals. A case study of a cantilever beam is carried out to investigate the general validity of the proposed procedure. First, a simulation of the manufacturing process of the cantilever as well as the respective support structures is conducted. Second, using the simulation's results as input, topology optimization of the support structures by applying the solid isotropic material with penalization method is executed. The result, resembling tree-like features, demonstrates the capabilities of the procedure and points out the possibility of using variable densities within one structure. Finally, critical needs in research to further develop the approach are pointed out.

Parts manufactured by laser beam melting (LBM) are about to break through prototype status and into industrial applications, especially in the medical technology and aviation industries. Machine and handling systems (MHSs) have not yet benefited from the numerous advantages of this disruptive manufacturing method on a broader scale, although conditions appear promising for implementation. Certification and approval processes often require less time and costs for MHSs than for other industry branches, which promotes rapid implementation of LBM. In the future, modern MHSs will perform more specialized, diverse, and complex tasks, even going beyond industrial applications and entering the private use market, e.g., through household assisting robots. In Sec. I, an insight into the requirements and challenges in the context of existing manufacturing and use restrictions of MHSs is given. Furthermore, Sec. I briefly introduces the LBM process and its benefits and restrictions. In Sec. II, the concepts of lightweight construction, functional integration, and a high degree of design freedom reveal potential for the design and redesign of novel product solutions for current and future applications. Exemplarily, a 6-axis robot is being examined with regard to industrial LBM production. Suitable subcomponents will be identified. Possible solutions for the previously mentioned fields are described in Sec. III. In order to determine achievable weight savings and to allow masses to be more dynamic, conventional designs are compared with developed topology-optimized components. Additionally, feature integration allows MHS manufacturing steps to be reduced. An integral design is being studied to minimize the number of machine parts used. Biomimetic approaches are used to reduce interference contours. This is of great importance for preventive personal protection in human–machine interaction (HMI) in order to expand the range of applications of modern MHSs. Furthermore, modal properties are specifically adapted. Lattice and hybrid LBM construction methods are also being considered. Accumulated in-depth knowledge of industrial LBM, lightweight construction, functional integration, design flexibility in mass customization, and also HMI topics for MHSs are summarized. An outlook is given on further applications and future approaches for industrialization.

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