Spare Parts Made by Additive Manufacturing to Improve Preventive Maintenance

Abstract

This research work is aimed at identifying the applicability of additive manufacturing (AM) to spare parts in the automotive manufacturing industry, specifically in the field of preventive maintenance. A procedure of AM applicability to preventive maintenance is presented. To this end, the results of the application of a case that has been carried out in the Stellantis factory located in the Vigo (Spain) area have been obtained. The procedure was based on an initial inventory from which a series of lists have been obtained that were later categorised. This was performed in order to know the technical and economic applicability of polymeric spare parts replacement by parts made of AM in polyamide material (PA12) through two manufacturing methods (HP Multi-Jet and Selective Laser Sintering technology, SLS). Original spare parts were characterised and compared with replacement parts made in AM. This article provides observations, recommendations and conclusions to summarise the situation regarding the use of AM techniques to improve preventive maintenance.