| Abstract Scope |
Big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) is an energy-efficient additive manufacturing (AM) approach that enables the production of complex parts at rates 200 times faster than conventional polymer AM. Through BAAM, sustainable, bio-based feedstocks can be printed into large-scale products for a variety of applications in the wind energy, automotive, marine, etc. industries. By incorporating, bio-based fillers into these feedstocks’ material properties can be enhanced furthering the application space of BAAM of bio-based feedstocks. Alternatively, BAAM can be used for re-manufacturing of large end-of-life (EoL) parts such as composite door panels, molds, etc. In this case, EoL composite materials, are given opportunities to either be recycled into the same product, a different product, or down-cycled. BAAM can create avenues for the industry to incorporate bio-based composites into everyday practice and provide the opportunity to re-use EoL composites, both of which are adoptable strategies to improve sustainability and circularity within industrial operations. |