Evaluation of Powder- and Extrusion-Based Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes for the Sustainable Fabrication of Spare Parts in Electromobility

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article addresses the very important issue of incremental manufacturing. It is a relatively young, rapidly developing method. The area in which the authors use this method comparing with other methods is as important as possible. Electromobility and its rapid development, especially coinciding with the guidelines of the European Union, will force the use of modern, ecological and economical methods. The authors' comparison of several methods of manufacturing a typical bicycle part is very interesting. The authors have, in my opinion, sufficiently discussed the scientific approach, described their research area and drawn conclusions based on logically presented results.

The layout of the paper correct, the style also. Correct selection of literature as well as its amount. Minor stylistic errors as well as questions of a formal nature, e.g:

line 117: "use" should be written using big letter

line: 178 Could the authots explain why optional heat treatment step to reduce the thermally induced residual stresses is not necessary to produce the torque arms?

In my opinion, the work is suitable for publication.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your positive feedback on our article, we were very pleased. We have made a style check to correct the minor stylistic errors. Further, we added an explanation why the heat treatment was not necessary for the torque arms:

Due to the low complexity of the geometry the optional heat treatment step to reduce thermally induced residual stresses is not necessary to produce the torque arms and is therefore not considered.

Best Regards

The Authors

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript evaluates the powder-based and extrusion-based metal additive manufacturing processes for the fabrication of spare parts in electromobility. The article compared both processes in terms of mechanical performance, costs, energy, gases, and manufacturing time required.  The study shows both methods were able to produce spare parts with similar mechanical performance and costs. However, energy, gases, and manufacturing time were significantly lower for powder-based, and machine costs were lower for extrusion-based additive manufacturing. The topic of metal AM has gathered great interest and development in recent years. The research topic is of great importance and I request performing minor revisions to improve the manuscript before publication.

1.       Abstract and conclusion– Consider quantifying the findings of the results in the abstract.

2.       Introduction- Consider providing the reader with information on other metal AM techniques. Considering highlighting why the study chose powder-based and extrusion-based and also highlight the novelty of the research.  

3.       Figures 6 and 7 – consider explaining how the proportionate time and energy was calculated.

4.       Discussion- Consider discussing the part complexity and its effect on cost, energy, gases, and manufacturing time in powder-based and extrusion-based metal AM. The 4 resources studied in this paper might have different values based on the complexity of the part.

5.       Consider discussing the limitations/challenges of powder-based and extrusion-based metal additive manufacturing and potential future research directions.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf