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This paper aims to develop an architecture for 3D printers in an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) controlled automated manufacturing environment. An algorithm is proposed to estimate the electrical energy consumption of 3D printing jobs, which is used, 3D Printing, Sustainable Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, Electrical Energy Estimation, IIoT to schedule printing jobs on optimal electrical tariff rates.

An IIoT-enabled architecture with connected pools of 3D printers and an Electrical Energy Estimation System (EEES) are used to estimate the electrical energy requirement of 3D printing jobs. EEES applied the combination of Maximum Likelihood Estimation and a dynamic programming–based algorithm for estimating the electrical energy consumption of 3D printing jobs.

The proposed algorithm decently estimates the electrical energy required for 3D printing and able to obtain optimal accuracy measures. Experiment results show that the electrical energy usage pattern can be reconstructed with the EEES. It is observed that EEES architecture reduces the peak power demand by scheduling the manufacturing process on low electrical tariff rates.

Proposed algorithm is validated with limited number of experiments.

IIoT with 3D printers in large numbers is the future technology for the automated manufacturing process where controlling, monitoring and analyzing such mass numbers becomes a challenging task. This paper fulfills the need of an architecture for industries to effectively use 3D printers as the main manufacturing tool with the help of IoT. The electrical estimation algorithm helps to schedule manufacturing processes with right electrical tariff.

Present for more than 20 years, 3D food printing (3DFP) technology has not experienced the same widespread adoption as its non-food counterparts. It is believed that relevant business models are crucial for its expansion. The purpose of this study is to identify the dominant prototypical business models and patterns in the 3DFP industry. The knowledge gained could be used to provide directions for business model innovation in this industry.

The authors established a business model framework and used it to analyse the identified 3DFP manufacturers. The authors qualitatively identified the market’s prototypical business models and used agglomerative hierarchical clustering to extract further patterns.

All identified 3DFP businesses use the prototypical business model of selling ownership of physical assets, with some variations. Low-cost 3D food printers for private usage and dedicated 3D food printers for small-scale food producers are the two primary patterns identified. Furthermore, several benefits of 3DFP technology are not being used, and the identified manufacturers are barely present in high-revenue markets, which prevents them from driving technological innovation forward.

The extracted patterns can be used by the companies within the 3DFP industry and even in other additive manufacturing segments to reflect upon, refine or renew their business model. Some directions for business model innovation in this industry are provided.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to give an account of the current 3DFP business models and their possible evolution. This study also contributes to the business model patterns methodological development.

Most of the 3D printing machines do not comply with the requirements of on-site, large-scale multi-story building construction. This paper aims to propose the conceptualization of a tower crane (TC)-based 3D printing controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) as the first step towards a large 3D printing development for multi-story buildings. It also aims to overcome the most important limitation of additive manufacturing in the construction industry (the build volume) by exploiting the most important machine used in the field: TCs. It assesses the technology feasibility by investigating the accuracy reached in the printing process.

The research is composed of three main steps: firstly, the TC-based 3D printing concept is defined by proposing an aero-pendulum extruder stabilized by propellers to control the trajectory during the extrusion process; secondly, an AI-based system is defined to control both the crane and the extruder toolpath by exploiting deep reinforcement learning (DRL) control approach; thirdly the proposed framework is validated by simulating the dynamical system and analysing its performance.

The TC-based 3D printer can be effectively used for additive manufacturing in the construction industry. Both the TC and its extruder can be properly controlled by an AI-based control system. The paper shows the effectiveness of the aero-pendulum extruder controlled by AI demonstrated by simulations and validation. The AI-based control system allows for reaching an acceptable tolerance with respect to the ideal trajectory compared with the system tolerance without stabilization.

In related literature, scientific investigations concerning the use of crane systems for 3D printing and AI-based systems for control are completely missing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the proposed research demonstrates for the first time the effectiveness of this technology conceptualized and controlled with an intelligent DRL agent.

The results provide the first step towards the development of a new additive manufacturing system for multi-storey constructions exploiting the TC-based 3D printing. The demonstration of the conceptualization feasibility and the control system opens up new possibilities to activate experimental research for companies and research centres.

With the rapid development of the sharing economy in manufacturing industries, manufacturers and the equipment suppliers frequently share capacity through the third-party platform. This paper aims to study influences of manufacturers sharing capacity on the supplier and to analyze whether the supplier shares capacity as well as its influences.

This paper deals with conditions that the supplier and manufacturers share capacity through the third-party platform, and the third-party platform competes with the supplier in equipment sales. Considering the heterogeneity of the manufacturer's earning of unit capacity usage and the production efficiency of manufacturer's usage strategies, this paper constructs capacity sharing game models. Then, model equilibrium results under different sharing scenarios are compared.

The results show that when the production or maintenance cost is high, manufacturers sharing capacity simultaneously benefits the supplier, the third-party platform and manufacturers with high earnings of unit capacity usage. When both the rental efficiency and the production cost are low, or both the rental efficiency and the production cost are high, the supplier simultaneously sells equipment and shares capacity. The supplier only sells equipment in other cases. When both the rental efficiency and the production cost are low, the supplier’s sharing capacity realizes the win-win-win situation for the supplier, the third-party platform and manufacturers with moderate earnings of unit capacity usage.

This paper innovatively examines supplier's selling and sharing decisions considering manufacturers sharing capacity. It extends the research on capacity sharing and is important to supplier's operational decisions.

The study aims to develop an integrated model for three-dimensional (3D) printing adoption in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) context to form a baseline for more theoretical and empirical debate from emerging markets.

A qualitative approach with a convenience sample is adopted since there is no formal body that has accurate data about the number of companies, governmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations, universities, labs, etc. that already have adopted 3D printing.

The results indicate that the technological usefulness of 3D printing and its ease-of-use factor were found to be lacking among community members and governmental officials. Yet, these factors were the most influential factor affecting the spread of 3D printing technology adoption in the GCC countries. Nevertheless, the adaptation of 3D printing is not yet at the level of its global markets, nor is it used within leading companies’ assembly lines. In addition, the 3D printing awareness and use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the adaptation rate is still below expectations due to several challenges that face the growth of the 3D printing market in the GCC countries. The most vital challenge facing 3D printing growth is manifested in governmental policies and regulations.

Companies’ managers can benefit from the current study results by focusing on the factors that facilitate 3D adoption and avoiding bottle-neck factors that hinder the speed of the 3D adoption. 3D providers can also benefit by understanding the factors that affect 3D adoption and designing their machine and marketing strategy in a way that helps the intended companies to easily adopt 3D printing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explored 3D printing adoption on the GCC countries’ level. It also adds a new flavor to the literature by exploring 3D adoption during the COVID-19 crisis.

This study provides an up-to-date review of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and guidance for selecting the most appropriate ones for specific applications, taking into account the main features, strengths, and limitations of the existing options.

A literature review on AM technologies was conducted to assess the current state-of-the-art. This was followed by a closer examination of different AM machines to gain a deeper insight into their main features and operational characteristics. The conclusions and data gathered were used to formulate a classification and decision-support framework.

The findings indicate the building blocks of the selection process for AM technologies. Furthermore, this work shows the suitability of the existing AM technologies for specific cases and points to opportunities for technological and decision-support improvements. Lastly, more standardization in AM would be beneficial for future research.

The proposed framework offers valuable support for decision-makers to select the most suitable AM technologies, as demonstrated through practical examples of its utilization. In addition, it can help researchers identify the limitations of AM by pinpointing applications where existing technologies fail to meet the requirements.

The study offers a novel classification and decision-support framework for selecting AM technologies, incorporating machine characteristics, process features, physical properties of printed parts, and costs as key features to evaluate the potential of AM. Additionally, it provides a deeper understanding of these features as well as the potential opportunities for AM and its impact on various industries.

This study deals with three major topics: (1) the developed generations of 3D concrete printers, (2) the mix design approach for cement-based materials and (3) laboratory testing.

The big question is how to approach and follow the trend of 3D concrete printing technology with limited conditions such as printers, technology issues and budget. Therefore, this research focused on dealing with prominent issues, including printing equipment, mixed proportion design approaches and laboratory testing methods will be presented and analyzed.

The details of three printing equipment, including a printhead, a small-scale 3D printer, a 3D concrete printer and the printing process related to Simplify and Mach3 software, will be revealed. Secondly, the classification and efficient process will be given according to the mixture proportion design method proposed. Thirdly, laboratory testing will be conducted, including extrudability, buildability and printability. Finally, some highlight conclusions are given based on the appearance and quality of the samples printed.

Research has been carried out with cement-based materials and 3D concrete printer which adopted the screw extruders.

Mix design proportion method via coefficient and slump value proposed by the authors is a relatively effective and convenient method; the rheological properties, printing process and geometry of a sample are the most significant factors that decide the success of the printing work.

Additive manufacturing, widely known as 3D printing, has recently drawn the attention of researchers worldwide for a few decades. Thanks to its capability to transform a drawing into an object, the idea of 3D printing has also attracted the attention of engineers, architects and investors.

(1) Mix design proportion via coefficient and slump value proposed by the authors is a relatively effective and convenient method that can be implemented simply at the laboratory or the site. (2) The ranges of coefficients by weight of the water, sand and PP fibers to binder are (0.27–0.3), (0.6–1.0) and around 0.3, respectively. The maximum sand size was smaller than 2.5 mm, and the small amount of PP fibers enhanced the quality and significantly reduced the printed samples' shrinkage. (3) The printability is affected by mix proportion and the relationship between nozzle printing speed parameter and extrusion speed of motor turning. (4) The chosen layer height recommended smaller than 0.83 times nozzle diameter is reasonable and improves adhesions and buildability. (5) The printing open time of the concrete mixture of (12–15) minutes is a barrel to promote 3D concrete printing technology and needs improvement.

The application of three-dimensional (3D) printing technology in construction projects is of increasing interest to researchers and construction practitioners. Although the application of 3D printing technology at various stages of the project lifecycle has been explored, few studies have identified the relative importance of critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects. To address this research gap, this study aims to explore the academics (i.e. researchers) and construction practitioners’ perspectives on CSFs for implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects.

To do this, a questionnaire was administered to participants (i.e. academics and construction practitioners) with knowledge and expertise in 3D printing technology in construction projects. The collected data were analysed using mean score ranking, normalization and rank agreement analysis to identify CSFs and determine the consistency of the ranking of CSFs between academics and construction practitioners. In addition, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the relationships and underlying constructs of the measured CSFs.

Through a rank agreement analysis of the collected data, 11 CSFs for implementing 3D printing technology were retrieved (i.e. 17% agreement), indicating a diverse agreement in the ranking of the CSFs between academics and construction practitioners. In addition, the results show three key components of CSFs including “production demand enabling CSFs”, “optimize the construction process enabling CSFs” and “optimized design enabling CSFs”.

This study highlights the feasibility of implementing the identified CSFs for 3D printing technology in construction projects, which not only serves as a reference for other researchers but also increases construction practitioners’ awareness of the practical benefits of implementing 3D printing technology in construction projects. Specifically, it would optimize the construction lifecycle processes, enhance digital transformation and promote sustainable construction projects.

The purpose of this study, most recent advancements in threedimensional (3D) printing have focused on the fabrication of components. It is typical to use different print settings, such as raster angle, infill and orientation to improve the 3D component qualities while fabricating the sample using a 3D printer. However, the influence of these factors on the characteristics of the 3D parts has not been well explored. Owing to the effect of the different print parameters in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, it is necessary to evaluate the strength of the parts manufactured using 3D printing technology.

In this study, the effect of three print parameters − raster angle, build orientation and infill − on the tensile characteristics of 3D-printed components made of three distinct materials − acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polycarbonate ABS (PC-ABS) and ULTEM-9085 − was investigated. A variety of test items were created using a commercially accessible 3D printer in various configurations, including raster angle (0°, 45°), (0°, 90°), (45°, −45°), (45°, 90°), infill density (solid, sparse, sparse double dense) and orientation (flat, on-edge).

The outcome shows that variations in tensile strength and force are brought on by the effects of various printing conditions. In all possible combinations of the print settings, ULTEM 9085 material has a higher tensile strength than ASA and PC-ABS materials. ULTEM 9085 material’s on-edge orientation, sparse infill, and raster angle of (0°, −45°) resulted in the greatest overall tensile strength of 73.72 MPa. The highest load-bearing strength of ULTEM material was attained with the same procedure, measuring at 2,932 N. The tensile strength of the materials is higher in the on-edge orientation than in the flat orientation. The tensile strength of all three materials is highest for solid infill with a flat orientation and a raster angle of (45°, −45°). All three materials show higher tensile strength with a raster angle of (45°, −45°) compared to other angles. The sparse double-dense material promotes stronger tensile properties than sparse infill. Thus, the strength of additive components is influenced by the combination of selected print parameters. As a result, these factors interact with one another to produce a high-quality product.

The outcomes of this study can serve as a reference point for researchers, manufacturers and users of 3D-printed polymer material (PC-ABS, ASA, ULTEM 9085) components seeking to optimize FDM printing parameters for tensile strength and/or identify materials suitable for intended tensile characteristics.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has great potential in the food industry. While 3D printing technology offers customised food products to consumers, it also allows producers to develop new products using a wide variety of alternative food ingredients, modernise the production process and carry out environmentally friendly production. This research aims to determine the attitudes of students towards 3D foods who are studying in the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, as they are both consumers and examine different food processing systems and use them in the field of application. As a result of the study, it was identified that the participants believed that 3D printing is a great modern technology that allows the development of new foods, that it will bring benefit to us in the future, reduce the cost of food and food waste, increase the sustainability of food and that they see it as environmentally friendly. In addition, it was determined that the participants did not think that 3D-printed foods were disgusting; they found these foods reliable, could try them in the future and were excited to experience them.