Date of Submission
5-12-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Advisor
Kristine Horvat, Ph.D.
Keywords
Hybrid Manufacturing, Energy Consumption, Environmental Impact, 3D Printing, CNC Machining, Surface Quality
LCSH
Energy consumption, Environmental impact analysis, Polylactic acid, Stainless steel, Three-dimensional printing, Machine-tools--Numerical control
Abstract
There is a growing need for more sustainable manufacturing processes that reduce environmental impact while maintaining the standard of high-quality products. Hybrid manufacturing is a process that has been implemented to achieve improvements in surface finishes without significantly increasing the energy consumed. The purpose of this research was to investigate the hybrid manufacturing of polymer, polylactic acid (PLA), and metal, stainless steel (SS316) blocks to compare the effects on their energy consumption, environmental impact, and surface quality. The thesis measured and analyzed the energy consumption and environmental impacts of combining the 3D printing process with CNC machining. An experimental study was conducted to compare the individual 3D Printing process with the hybrid process of 3D printing and CNC machining based on criteria such as energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, and surface quality of printed parts. Results were quantified for both PLA and SS316 parts to evaluate and compare the effect of the added CNC post-processing step. The findings showed that the hybrid process improved surface quality significantly, reducing surface roughness by approximately 96% for both materials. However, for the PLA block, the CO₂ emissions increased by about 60% in the hybrid process, while the SS316 block showed no significant change in energy use and emissions. Overall, the results demonstrate a clear trade-off between surface quality improvement and environmental impact in hybrid manufacturing and provide insight into how critical the role of material selection is in determining sustainability outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Ukoha, Beverly Ogbonne, "A Sustainability Assessment of Hybrid Manufacturing: Trade-offs Between Surface Quality and Energy Consumption in Polymer and Metal 3D Printing with CNC Post-Processing" (2026). Honors Theses. 113.
https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/honorstheses/113