The master thesis aimed to investigate issues regarding work environment with additive manufacturing and related technologies for development of Defence applications. The project background emerged from FOI’s (Swedish Defence Research Agency) interest in additive manufacturing inside of a transportable container-like facility. They envisioned a solution that could be more independent of conventional logistics, aid in repair/maintenance purposes and reduce spare part inventory. FOI issued the project for a deeper understanding of work environmental issues from an Industrial Design Engineering perspective regarding additive manufacturing in Swedish environments. The purpose was to come up with a list of risks and solutions while the goal was to create a production design to visualize concept ideas.

The project used industrial design methodology, which has human needs in the center of development by utilizing four steps. Project planning, to establish a purpose and a plan as well as structuring time and resources. Context immersion, so that the user needs and current situation could be identified. The context included two study visits of traditional workplaces interested in the technology and one benchmarking interview for practical information about additive manufacturing, as well as literature study to further investigate risks with 3d-printing. Then the third step was ideation, to come up with solution proposals producing a process chart summarizing the user tasks, risks and possible solutions together. Finally an implementation step of using the ideas by creating a Sketch-Up model to visualize the results.

The results were a mapping of the process that a user of the additive manufacturing container solution would experience and a categorization of it into five general steps. First “computer desk” which involved all the computer related tasks such as CAD, which regarded ergonomic design and ergonomic risk awareness of office work. Then “Setup” which assessed the risks of setting up a few common types of plastic 3d-printers and running them. This considered material handling (powder), hazardous gases, noise and chemical risks. Thirdly “Cleanup” that referred to taking care of a part after its been printed including several printing methods, this would assess issues regarding removal of support material and maintenance of the 3dprinters. Then “Post-processing” to adapt the produced part after application which was deemed too broad and uncertain to investigate outside of a specific practical case because of the potentially immense variety of uses for different applications. Lastly “External factors” aiming at Swedish environments such as cold winters and different geographical contexts such as the marine, air or field environment. The results were summarized in the chart of appendix 4. Safety equipment and printer enclosures were some of the common solutions to risks but powder material handling was particularly important due to imposing the most serious health risk. The individual ventilation, noise pollution and post-processing needs could be accurately determined by a practical case, this should consequently be investigated further during practical testing of additive manufacturing inside the container solution proposal.