TY - THES

T1 - Metal Additive Manufacturing Assessment For the Oil & Gas and Maritime Sector – Case Study of a Maritime Application Using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

AU - Meierschitz, Besmir

N1 - embargoed until 02-06-2025

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - This thesis contains two sections. The first section represents the results of a thorough assessment of metal Additive Manufacturing, short AM for the Maritime and Oil & Gas sector. The information stems from extensive literature research and insights from interviews and conversations with voestalpine High Performance Metals Division experts as well as industry leaders in the Maritime and Oil & Gas market. The interviewed experts agree that although the industry continues to grow, there is still a long way to go before this technology is industrialised. The most significant barrier is still high costs. In this context, customers must become aware of the total cost of ownership aspect of parts produced with AM, to see the advantages. One of the most significant success factors is the selection of suitable parts for the adopted AM technology. Currently, AM is still a demonstrator technology for Oil & Gas and Maritime, with very few qualified parts. The industry focus lies on spare part production where AM delivers the highest value add. The second section is a case study for a conventionally forged Maritime component. This part was produced in two different variations, using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, short WAAM. One part was produced only with AM. For the other two Hybrid parts, only the essential features, which are cylindrical Pins, were additively manufactured on top of a substrate. The mechanical properties surpassed the requirements, with minor exceptions. More defects were detected than expected. The selected part was not ideal for this AM technology. It has very low design freedom and geometrical complexity, low Conventional Manufacturing cost and consists of relatively cheap low-alloyed structural steel. Also, closed die forging, which is the Conventional Manufacturing method, already delivers near-net-shape parts. The cost of production was high, with similar investment cost to a forging tool. The more economic Hybrid parts did not fulfil the elongation requirements. The case study confirms the difficulties in finding business cases for this technology. For the selected part, WAAM presents only an attractive option for spare parts, but not for serial production.

AB - This thesis contains two sections. The first section represents the results of a thorough assessment of metal Additive Manufacturing, short AM for the Maritime and Oil & Gas sector. The information stems from extensive literature research and insights from interviews and conversations with voestalpine High Performance Metals Division experts as well as industry leaders in the Maritime and Oil & Gas market. The interviewed experts agree that although the industry continues to grow, there is still a long way to go before this technology is industrialised. The most significant barrier is still high costs. In this context, customers must become aware of the total cost of ownership aspect of parts produced with AM, to see the advantages. One of the most significant success factors is the selection of suitable parts for the adopted AM technology. Currently, AM is still a demonstrator technology for Oil & Gas and Maritime, with very few qualified parts. The industry focus lies on spare part production where AM delivers the highest value add. The second section is a case study for a conventionally forged Maritime component. This part was produced in two different variations, using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, short WAAM. One part was produced only with AM. For the other two Hybrid parts, only the essential features, which are cylindrical Pins, were additively manufactured on top of a substrate. The mechanical properties surpassed the requirements, with minor exceptions. More defects were detected than expected. The selected part was not ideal for this AM technology. It has very low design freedom and geometrical complexity, low Conventional Manufacturing cost and consists of relatively cheap low-alloyed structural steel. Also, closed die forging, which is the Conventional Manufacturing method, already delivers near-net-shape parts. The cost of production was high, with similar investment cost to a forging tool. The more economic Hybrid parts did not fulfil the elongation requirements. The case study confirms the difficulties in finding business cases for this technology. For the selected part, WAAM presents only an attractive option for spare parts, but not for serial production.

KW - Additive Fertigung

KW - Öl & Gas

KW - Maritime

KW - Marktanalyse

KW - Analyse der Wertschöpfungskette

KW - Fallstudie

KW - WAAM

KW - Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

KW - Generative Fertigungstechnik

KW - Lichtbogenschweißen

KW - Machbarkeitsstudie

KW - Wirtschaftliche Aspekte

KW - Technische Bestimmungen

KW - Draht-basierte Verfahren

KW - Additive Manufacturing

KW - Oil & Gas

KW - Maritime

KW - Market Assessment

KW - Value Chain Assessment

KW - Case Study

KW - WAAM

KW - Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

KW - Feasibility

KW - Economic Aspects

KW - Technical Requirements

M3 - Master's Thesis

ER -