Previous studies on the environmental impacts of polymeric additive manufacturing (AM) have shown that higher printer utilization dramatically improves impacts per part—so much so that it might dominate all other interventions if taken to an extreme. High utilization can be both temporal (printing constantly) and spatial (printing many parts at once). In this study, life cycle assessments (LCAs) were performed for an inkjet fusion printer with exceptionally high spatial utilization capacity and were compared to previous LCAs of nine printers printing with eight materials. Comparisons were performed in different utilizations, both temporal and spatial, to determine if high utilization reduces the environmental impact of AM more than other interventions, such as using sustainable print materials. For the inkjet fusion printer, maximum utilization dramatically reduced the environmental impact per part to less than 1% of its impact in lowest utilization; this was below the impacts of other printers in low utilizations. However, when compared in the same utilization scenarios, the inkjet fusion printer still caused a higher environmental impact per part than almost all printers, primarily due to high energy use. The lowest-impact printer used both high spatial utilization and low-impact materials that also enabled a low-energy printing process. Therefore, printer utilization is not the overriding factor and must be combined with energy efficiency and material choice.

先前对聚合物增材制造（AM）的环境影响的研究表明，更高的打印机利用率极大地改善了每个零件的影响-如此之大，以至于在极端情况下它可能主导所有其他干预措施。高利用率既可以是临时的（不断打印）又可以是空间的（一次打印很多部分）。在这项研究中，对具有极高空间利用能力的喷墨融合打印机进行了生命周期评估（LCA），并将其与以前使用8种材料进行打印的9台打印机的LCA进行了比较。在时间和空间的不同利用率上进行了比较，以确定高利用率是否比其他干预措施（例如使用可持续的印刷材料）更能减少AM的环境影响。对于喷墨融合打印机，最高利用率极大地降低了每个零件对环境的影响，使其降低到最低利用率的不足1％；这低于利用率较低的其他打印机的影响。但是，在相同的使用场景下进行比较时，喷墨融合打印机的零件对环境的影响仍然比几乎所有打印机都要高，这主要是由于高能耗。影响最小的打印机使用了高空间利用率和低影响的材料，这也实现了低能耗的打印过程。因此，打印机利用率不是最重要的因素，必须与能效和材料选择相结合。当在相同的使用情况下进行比较时，喷墨融合打印机的零件对环境的影响仍然比几乎所有打印机都高，这主要是由于高能耗。影响最小的打印机使用了高空间利用率和低影响的材料，这也实现了低能耗的打印过程。因此，打印机利用率不是最重要的因素，必须与能效和材料选择相结合。当在相同的使用场景下进行比较时，喷墨融合打印机的部件对环境的影响仍然比几乎所有打印机都要高，这主要是由于高能耗。影响最小的打印机使用了高空间利用率和低影响的材料，这也实现了低能耗的打印过程。因此，打印机利用率不是最重要的因素，必须与能效和材料选择相结合。