Advances in Additive Manufacturing Processes

Additive Manufacturing (AM) which is also referred as Three Dimensional Printing (3DP), Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) or Rapid Prototyping (RP) is a layer-by-layer technique of producing a three-dimensional (3D) objects directly from a digital model. The technique is used in engineering for prototyping, tooling, direct part manufacturing, maintenance and repair. Additive Manufacturing accounted for £1.2b ($2b) across all industries in worldwide sales of materials, equipment, and services in 2012, and is expected to reach £2.4b ($4b) by 2015. Additive Manufacturing is considered to be the breakthrough disruptive technology which permits end-products to be grown from materials such as inks, dielectrics and powders in a layer-wise manner. Even though the technique has had remarkable improvements since its emergence over 25 years ago, still faces several technical challenges related to material characterization and availability compared with other conventional techniques. This paper reviews the current commercially available Additive Manufacturing processes by describing generics and specifics as well as the build material characteristics. It also presents the “State of the Art” of Additive Manufacturing Technology and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the techniques. Finally, several case studies are discussed in addition to the real life application of these techniques which will enable readers to understand and potentially exploit these emerging technologies.