Critical Assessment of a Selected Structural Engineering

Critical Assessment of a Selected Structural Engineering
Component to be Enhanced by a Future Manufacturing Concept
Module Title: Future and Advanced Manufacturing Materials and Technologies
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Improvement of Beam using the Future Manufacturing Concept of Additive Manufacturing...4
2.1 Role of Beam as a Structural Engineering Component in Construction Industry.................4
2.2 Justification for the Use of Additive Manufacturing in Improving the Structural
Component of Beam....................................................................................................................6
2.3 Different Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Improving the Structural Component of
Beam............................................................................................................................................7
2.4 Implementation Plan for the Adoption of Additive Manufacturing for Structural
Component Improvement............................................................................................................9
2.5 Benefits and Challenges Faced during Using the Additive Manufacturing in Improving the
Structural Component of Beam.................................................................................................10
2.6 Barriers Faced During the Adoption of Additive Manufacturing in Improving the
Structural Component................................................................................................................11
2.7 Adoption of Strategies for Overcoming the Barriers in Additive Manufacturing
Implementation..........................................................................................................................12
3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14
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1. Introduction
The following coursework would discuss the idea of future manufacturing concepts and their
importance in improving the performance of the structural engineering component selected. The
structural engineering component chosen for the following study is a beam from the construction
industry (Duggal et al., 2022). The beam is considered to be an important structural component
in the construction process. In order to improve the performance of the selected structural
component, the area of strength and service life would be improved using the future
manufacturing concept. The future manufacturing concept that would be used for the following
enhancement is additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is considered to be the
pillar of Industry 4.0 from the future manufacturing concept. Through the use of additive
manufacturing, the materials are being deposited layer by layer using the model of computer-
aided design in order to form a complex shape successfully (Lucke et al., 2019). Hence it can be
said that additive manufacturing helps in carrying out complex projects and also improves the
efficiency and performance of the project. The benefits of using the technique of additive
manufacturing is its waste minimization and fast prototyping property. The additive
manufacturing technique has the potential to improve the performance of the structural
engineering component of the beam. Various industries such as aerospace, electronics, defense,
biomedical, etc. are rapidly adopting AM but the construction industry is in the development
stage of AM adoption (Chen et al., 2020). The adoption of the AM would be helpful in
streamlining the beam connections and optimization of the stress distribution for the beams.
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2. Improvement of Beam using the Future Manufacturing Concept of Additive
Manufacturing
The structural component of the beam would be enhanced from the context of performance using
the future manufacturing concept of additive manufacturing. With the use of the additive
manufacturing concept, the structural component can be precisely modeled as well as placed in
the optimal locations (Paolini, Kollmannsberger and Rank, 2019). It would also be helpful in
determining the usage of the materials without compromising important factors such as load
bearing capacity, etc. The construction industry states to have a considerable impact on the
environment. It is responsible for the usage of 36% of global energy annually and the emission
of 39% emission of carbon dioxide. The adoption of the additive manufacturing concept can also
lead to ecological benefits such as carbon mitigation (Lucke et al., 2019). The adoption of the
AM concept in the construction industry has been observed to be low compared to the other
industries despite the advantages imposed.
2.1 Role of Beam as a Structural Engineering Component in Construction Industry
The beam in the construction industry is mainly responsible for resisting the loads that are
applied to the structure laterally to the axis. The following structural component of the
construction industry is designed for carrying the lateral load (Ly et al., 2020). There are
different classifications of the beam based on the type, such as simply supported, fixed beam,
overhanging, cantilever, etc. The purpose of the following structural component is to transfer
loads of the structure from the slab to the columns. Hence it can be stated that it is used for the
transferring of the load from one structure to another. The application of the beam in the
construction industry varies in a wide range that is from use in platforms to bridges, commercial
buildings, etc (Naderpour and Mirrashid, 2019). Based on the materials used for the beam
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