Measurement of Form Errors and Comparative Cost Analysis for the Component Developed by Metal Printing (DMLS) and Stir Casting

In the continuously changing scenario of manufacturing industries, the demand for rapid production and specific material component is increased day by day. In this context, the additive manufacturing technique proves a suitable option to develop complex geometry shapes with optimized use of the material as well as energy. In this work, an attempt is to develop a 3D physical component of connecting rod by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process. The process parameters such as scanning speed 6m/s, laser power 200 W, layer thickness of 25 µm were kept constant. The same geometry component is also produced by a traditional stir casting method to compare the dimensional accuracy and deviations. The CAD model of the connecting rod was prepared by CATIA V6. All the dimensions were measured by a counter measuring machine (CMM). The surface roughness of both the final product was also measured to discuss the surface quality and physical surface defects. In addition to it, a cost analysis of both the process to develop the same component is also discussed. From the result, it is found that the dimensional error for 3D metal printing component is quite low and occurred in the range of 4 % to 7% in XY, YZ radial and circular plane direction compared to stir casting component 4% to 10% in the same planes. The surface roughness value Ra and Rz for the 3D metal printing surface (2.339 and 8.439 µm ) were quite low compared to stir cast surface (4.417 and 13.372 µm). However, the overall cost of 3D metal printing is higher than the stir casting component.