Additive Manufacturing Processes | BTEC International Level 3 Engineering Assignment 2026

BTEC Assignment Brief

Unit 45: Additive Manufacturing Processes

Vocational Scenario or Context

You are employed as an apprentice machinist at an engineering firm that produces a range of small prototype components, currently the company is using computer numerical control and computer aided manufacturing systems and processes.

As part of your training within the company you have been asked to perform an investigation of additive manufacturing processes to better understand the benefits.

In order to support this, you are now going to design and manufacture a product using additive manufacturing system and processes.

Task 1

You have been asked to design a small component and then manufacture the component using an additive manufacturing (AM) processes safely.

You need to:

Produce a drawing for a component or product using Computer Aided Design (CAD) or photo editing software that can then be manufactured using an appropriate AM process safely. You need to:

• Design a product or component for manufacture using an AM process
• Manufacture the product or component using the AM process

To do this:

You need to design a product or component that is suitable for AM processes. The product or component chosen must include a hollow section and/or a support. The model must be designed as one piece and you have a choice of the following:

• Scale model aeroplane
• Scale model car
• A child’s model figurine

You must provide evidence of building the model through screenshots at various stages

You must demonstrate that you have optimised your design by considering the following:

• the form complexity of the component or product, that includes a hollow section and/or section needing support
• Materials, such as the suitability of their mechanical properties, the use of single or multiple materials, their availability and/or the use of colour.
• The structural integrity of the component, such as laminar build-up, shrinkage allowance, cooling and support of overhangs
• The functionality of the component or product
• Characteristics of potential AM machine characteristics

You should create the component/product drawing using one of the following processes: 3D CAD modelling, photo-editing software, component scanning. The image should then be converted into a file type that is suitable for the AM system to understand prior to manufacture.

You then need to:

Transfer the data to the AM system ready for manufacturing and set-up the component, including positioning of datum, product orientation, physical size, scale and swept volume.

You must demonstrate safe working practices when carrying out the AM process, and show evidence of:

• Using the correct PPE and guarding
• Setting up the AM system parameters prior to the operation such as infill, layer height, feed rate, travel feed rate, temperature, resolution.
• How the AM parameters could be optimised during manufacturing, for example considering layer heights or infill and how changes may impact on the mass of the component or the processing time. You should also consider the capacity of the machine, the tolerances achievable and machine resolution.
• Using appropriate finishing processes.

Finally you need to complete quality control checks to ensure that the component is free from burrs and sharp edges, and carry out quality control checks for accuracy using appropriate measuring equipment.

Checklist of evidence required

An optimised design for a component and the manufacture of the component or product.

• Annotated photographs
• Screen shots
• Sketches
• CAD or photo editing software screen shots and drawings
• Inspection documents
• Log book
• Records of QC checks
• Observation records or witness statements

Criteria covered by this task

Sources of information to support you with this Assignment

Books

• Pearson BTEC National Engineering Student Book ISBN 978-1-292-14100-8
• C Barnatt; 3D Printing: Third Edition; (Creative Space, 2013) ISBN 978-1-539-65546-6
• Hopkinson N, Hague R and Dickens P (Editors) – Rapid Manufacturing: An Industrial Revolution for the Digital Age (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) ISBN 9780470016138.

Websites

• autodesk.co.uk
• solidworks.com/sw/products/draftsight-getting-started-guide.htm
• caddprimer.com/magazine
• caduser.com
• stratasys.com
• renishaw.com/en/additive-manufacturing-systems