The momentum behind adopting additive manufacturing is transforming advanced production methods, particularly in the realm of sustainable food production. Planted, a Swiss Foodtech firm specialized in plant-based proteins, is leading the charge in this transformative trend. Their focus lies in reshaping how we perceive meat, emphasizing sustainability, flavor, and health across their range of plant-based protein offerings.

A cornerstone of Planted's strategy is the integration of additive manufacturing to amplify sustainable food production. Through a dedicated research endeavor, they explore the intricate facets of additive manufacturing applications, including precise investigation of conformal cooling and temperature distribution in extrudates.

By utilizing additive manufacturing techniques, Planted delves into the evolution of cooling nozzle designs, surpassing the insights gleaned from conventional methods. Central to this evolution is sensor integration, heightening measurement precision and allowing adaptable sensor placement for accurate data acquisition. Planted effectively demonstrates additive manufacturing's potential in paving the way for a more sustainable future through the creation of environmentally friendly products.

Notably, the design of production equipment directly shapes the resulting products. Additive manufacturing's implementation reveals how production equipment can be elevated, resulting in improved end products. In the context of Planted's additive manufacturing-driven extrusion process for product creation, cooling efficiency within the extrusion equipment witnesses significant enhancements.

In summation, Planted's unwavering commitment to sustainable plant-based proteins harmonizes seamlessly with the inventive capabilities of additive manufacturing. This symbiotic relationship holds the promise of reshaping food production. The integration of additive manufacturing serves as an extension of the company's sustainability dedication, venturing into cutting-edge applications that advance energy efficiency and curtail carbon emissions—an ambitious stride toward a more sustainable future for the realm of food.

This abstract presents a simulation of the additive manufacturing (AM) process using the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) process. L-PBF is an advanced AM technology that has steadily evolved over a long period of research and industrial development. This technology development has enabled widespread acceptance of commercial applications of PBF technology, particularly for the manufacture of high-value products that are technically infeasible using conventional manufacturing processes. Commercial opportunities were initially limited to complex geometries and over time are gaining acceptance in broader applications.

In the presented study, the PBF process was simulated using finite element analysis in Simcenter 3D. In this example a burner head of a gas turbine was printed and simulated, it was shown that the distortions that occur during the process can be predicted and compensated for very accurately using a thermo-mechanical simulation. The study also highlights the influence of different mesh types (voxels, linear tetrahedra, square tetrahedra) and modeling approaches (mechanical, thermo-mechanical) on the quality of distortion prediction and compensation.

The results of the simulations provide insights into the critical distortion factors such as material properties (elastic, plastic), laser power, scan speed and hatch distance.