Critical Minerals as Feedstocks for Additive Manufacturing
摘要
Given the high costs and limited supply of critical minerals, using additive manufacturing to create critical mineral-based products is a promising prospect. Conventional manufacturing processes are often uneconomical for producing geometrically complex designs and highly customized products, particularly in batch and low-volume production scenarios. In these scenarios additive manufacturing outperforms conventional manufacturing not only in the cost of production but also in terms of material waste, lead times, and environmental impacts. Currently, the product of critical mineral industries are concentrates that are shipped to metal forming industries for further processing. This chapter elaborates upon the possibilities of critical mineral powders and wires as an emerging product from critical mineral industries. The associated sustainability challenges and opportunities, especially concerning recycled minerals, are encapsulated.