ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the initial stage of a promising research project which deals with a global design for additive manufacturing approach. Manufacturing characteristics are linked to one another, and they cannot be seen separately; a global view which draws upon all the knowledge and experience of the community is consequently needed. The additive manufacturing (AM) process chosen to manufacture this case is the construction laser additive direct or direct laser additive construction process. The computer aided design model that is obtained is thus never really designed for the AM process that is chosen. On the contrary, a global approach starts directly from both the chosen manufacturing process characteristics and the functional specifications of the parts to design. The main characteristics of the manufacturing machines which must be taken into account are kinematics, maximal and minimal dimensions, capability in terms of accuracy, and required accessibility.
