The Journal of Industrial Ecology has recently announced a call for papers for a special issue on the topic “Environmental Dimensions of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing”.
Possible topics that could be addressed include the following:
- Theorizing, describing and analyzing the resource consumption patterns and environmental impacts associated with additive manufacturing technology on the machine, supply chain and aggregate levels.
- Assessing the impact of novel supply chain configurations and of the availability of new generations of products resulting from innovative design approaches, for example based on optimization methods or personalization.
- Assessment of occupational health issues including toxicology of emissions, exposure control approaches and exposure assessment including risks arising from manufacturing in non-traditional settings (home, hobbyist, and maker settings)
- Investigation of the potential for and barriers to increased repair and remanufacturing arising from additive manufacturing.
- Establishing robust environmental indicators (e.g. carbon emissions, water consumption, land use and pollution) and economic indicators (e.g. value added, employment, inequality) for comparison with conventional manufacturing routes.
- Environmental, social science, economic/business, and engineering analysis of the implications of localized and highly customized production enabled by additive manufacturing.
- Collating datasets that allow an exploration of the trade-offs occurring across additive manufacturing supply chains.
- Analyzing the environmental performance of the latest developments within additive manufacturing technology, including systems capable of depositing multiple materials and high-productivity platforms.
The deadline for submissions is 31 December 2015.
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