Practical Implementations of Additive Manufacturing Technologies

Additive manufacturing (AM), which emerged as an alternative method to traditional manufacturing methods such as casting and forging, holds many advantages, from 3D design to material selection to production. Researchers and industrial users have recently used the method in numerous application fields due to its outstanding properties in industrial use. Additive manufacturing technology is mainly used in many different industrial areas, such as aerospace, defines, biomedical, automotive, and energy. This study is divided into six sections, which include a literature review of Recent Advancements in Additive Manufacturing. The sections of the study consist of the history of additive manufacturing technology from the past to the present, additive manufacturing methods, used materials, general process workflow, industrial usage areas, and recent developments in additive manufacturing technology. The current study presents a roadmap for future research in additive manufacturing technology specific to synthesis, properties, and applications.

It is important to bear in mind that additive manufacturing (AM) did not emerge in isolation but rather built upon earlier technologies. The rapid adoption of 3D printing technology across industries serves as a testament to its effective evolution from a specialized method primarily used for prototyping to a viable industrial production technique. As the trend continues to gain momentum, an increasing number of companies will inevitably embrace AM techniques to manufacture components using diverse materials. This chapter explores significant milestones in the history of additive manufacturing, illustrating the advancements 3D printing has made over the past decade while considering the widespread growth of applications and technology in the mainstream. The transformative journey of 3D printing is examined, shedding light on its profound impact on various industries and its potential for further development and innovation in the future. By examining the historical context and current landscape, this chapter aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the progressive nature of additive manufacturing and its continued role in shaping the manufacturing industry. In Sect. 1, a brief introduction is given regarding the historical and future trends in additive manufacturing. Sections 2–6 discuss different additive manufacturing techniques, their working principles, and the suitable materials for each of these techniques. In Sect. 7, the concept of 4D printing is briefly discussed, including its applicability and future trends.

Nano-structured materials have extensive applications in electronics, defence, automotive, aerospace, space. Some of the distinct properties of nanomaterials such as excellent strength, ductility, wear resistance encourages the application in structural domain. Additive manufacturing, also interpreted as 3D printing is a cost-effective fabrication route through layer-by-layer deposition of metal. The method can produce the final product with little or no machining requirement, and the process can be tailored to achieve the bulk product with desired properties. Several nanomaterials synthesis routes used in additive manufacturing processes, major advantages and challenges of introduction of nanomaterials, properties of fabricated component and applications will be discussed in the chapter.

Additive Manufacturing is a common name used for manufacturing methods that fabricate the desired part by layer-upon-layer. There is a variety of materials that can be processed by AM technologies such as polymer, metal, ceramic, biomaterial, and even concrete. Due to their superiorities, AM applications in many industries are becoming widespread. AM technologies are classified into seven groups and four of them are well suited for metal feedstock material processing. Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) uses either a laser or an electron beam as an energy source to fuse powder particles. Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting are common PBF technologies. Direct Energy Deposition is another process where the energy source generates a melt pool, and the feedstock material is deposited inside the melt pool simultaneously. In Binder Jetting, a printhead deposits a binding agent to bind powder particles together, and post-processing is required to strengthen the fabricated part. This chapter provides the working principle, main machine parts, general process parameters, materials used, and advantages and disadvantages of each technology.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been applied to the field of medical engineering since its beginning. It takes into account individual differences and tailors treatment to patients. At present, the design and additive manufacturing of personalized medical implants and prostheses has become the optimal approach, and it has proved to be a reliable solution for many patients who require prosthesis implantation. Many metallic, ceramic and polymeric materials can be used for medical implants. These biomaterials need to have good cell compatibility, without toxic ion release and with similar mechanical properties to human tissues, as well as a suitable degradation rate. However, obtaining an ideal material for tissue engineering via material design is still a problem to be overcome. In this chapter, different types of biomaterials as well as their modification methods are introduced. In addition, recent advances in biomaterial based additive manufacturing are covered, for example, designing an ideal structure which can not only bear loads or stresses but also transfer nutrients required for cell differentiation. More and more biological applications will certainly emerge in the future with the advancement of additive manufacturing technology and biomaterials.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has become an extremely popular manufacturing process due to the immense potential it holds for the development of new products and applications across a wide range of industries. Due to its capacity to produce complicated geometries with little to no waste, it is frequently employed in fast prototyping processes. The growing popularity of polymer composite-based additive manufacturing is due to its versatility for printing with various reinforcements at a relatively lower overall melting temperature, as well as its extrudability and adhesive properties in 3D printed parts. This chapter has briefly covered a variety of 3D printing methods for polymer-based additive manufacturing by discussing the working principles of each AM process. With the input of some recent papers on polymer composite based AM, several reinforcing strategies have been presented along with their improvement on mechanical properties of AM polymer composites. The effects of 3D printing parameters on the composite mechanical properties and the selection methods of printing parameters for improved product performance of AM Polymer composites have been discussed. The internal porosity contributing to the poor strength, and poor dimensional accuracy and surface roughness of 3D printed parts are found to be the two major drawbacks of AM polymer composites. Therefore, the effectiveness of several frequently used post-processing methods on the defect reduction and properties enhancement of AM polymer composites have been reviewed. Finally, a brief discussion on future research scope on the area of AM polymer composites has been added in the chapter.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a constructive industrial manufacturing process termed 3D printing. This is a computer-aided design in which three-dimensional objects are fabricated by applying materials layer-by-layers. Various companies, from the medical to aerospace industries, are using AM. Additive manufacturing is beneficial for creating complex or custom parts. This is true whether you are using it for a new application or replacing an older part that is no longer available. In this era of intelligent technology, AM continues to evolve to keep up with today's demands. 3D printing or AM of time-dependent, stimulus-responsive, predetermined, self-calculated materials is referred to as 4D printing. This chapter describes the additive manufacturing of smart materials with a focus on different given stimulus conditions. In this chapter, we have discussed various applications of smart structures in additive manufacturing.

3D printing has revolutionized various industries by permitting the manufacture of complex and customized objects with effortlessness. When it hails to batteries and supercapacitors, 3D printing has shown potential in the growth of new-fangled and innovative designs. However, the technology is still in its early stages, and significant research and development efforts are underway to harness its full potential. With recent advances and cost reduction, it can transform the manufacturing process to create intricate and complex designs with better implanted functionalities. Further, vital research into the material development and novel design approaches are the need of the hour.

The present chapter describes biosensor device properties and electro analytical methods involved in the development of environmentally sustainable hybrid polymers doped with silver nanowires (Ag NW) nano graphite, conductive polymer composites, graphene, nonporous metals, and carbon nanotubes for the biosensor’s applications. The hybrid polymers doped with Ag NW showed bio compatibility, neutral adhesion and the formulated ink was used for the strain responsive biosensors. The nano graphite incorporated for the redox electrodes which are further used for the effective detection of Pb (II) and Cd (II) elements. However, electrochemical performances of conductive polymers showed decrease in the peak current with increase in the electrode potential leading to water ingress and used for the application of additive manufacturing (AM) where water is in contact with the AM process. The electrochemical biosensors used with graphene, carbon nanotubes and porous metals in presence of biomarkers with their challenges in the AM process discussed in detail.

One of the most cutting-edge technologies used in the manufacturing industry is additive manufacturing, often known as 3D printing. The additive manufacturing technology uses a layer-by-layer material build-up process to manufacture parts that are created directly from digital models. Metal and polymer components can be swiftly and precisely produced with this manufacturing process. Additionally, it enables flexible manufacturing of customized products without substantially affecting the cost. Due to its attractive features including component design freedom, part complexity, light weight, part consolidation, and design for function, additive manufacturing is particularly suited to the aerospace, automotive, and marine industries. This chapter provides an overview of additive manufacturing methods used in the automotive industry, including material considerations, component design, design limitations, and applications.

Technology has greatly advanced due to the internet and digitization, leading to the commercial production of additive manufacturing in the 2010s. This technology allows for the quick and precise creation of needed models, using a variety of materials, easily accessible printer raw supplies, no waste after production, and high production of intricate designs with precision. The digital data can be transferred quickly, and many products can be produced simultaneously in different places. These advantages have led to an increase in production with additive manufacturing. In the biomedical industry, traditional manufacturing methods cause problems with a large number of manufacturing through a single model, particularly with implants and prostheses. With additive manufacturing technology, patient-specific drug formulations, optimum dosage medicines, and patient-specific spinal, dental, hip, craniofacial implants and replacements can be manufactured with high precision. Additionally, tissues and organs can be produced via 3D printing, which helps overcoming issues such as incompatibility and a shortage of suitable donors. In this chapter, several additive manufacturing techniques and implant studies produced by these techniques have been considered in the literature, taking into account all the above aspects.

The construction and building sectors are labor intensive, have a shortage of skilled people, and face low productivity. The automation and digitalization of all relevant steps in construction and building may appear to resolve the issues. Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, uses computer-aided design data to build complex physical objects by adding material layer-by-layer without using dies, tools, jigs, and fixtures. AM is used in various sectors, including aerospace, biomedical, space, automotive, and others. More recently, AM has gained popularity in construction and building due to its tremendous benefits, such as design freedom, material saving, mass customization, fast prototype, and functional parts. In the construction industry, extrusion-based additive manufacturing processes, commonly known as 3D concrete printing (3DCP) are used. This chapter describes the 3DCP process, process parameters, materials and focuses on the construction applications. The challenges and prospects of 3DCP in construction and building fields are highlighted.

The fabrication of fully functional active components via additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, has progressed beyond mere prototype. With composites, metals, ceramics, concrete, and polymers, it is a flexible production technique. This article focuses on the evolution of additive products in the biomedical and sports industries. Additionally, a number of instances of additive manufacturing techniques used in the creation of unique goods are provided. The use of additive manufacturing as a collaborative tool with the idea of innovative problem-solving techniques in the creation of new items has also been given a conceptual framework.

Additive manufacturing (AM) are the latest fabrication techniques that has generated interest worldwide. As it allows to design any solid 3D object to be printed using computer-aided design (CAD) and analyzed using CAD. For complex geometries and material combinations, CAD is often further facilitated with high-productivity computing resources. This combination of hardware and software facilitates the manufacturing process to produce anything imaginable. In contrast to subtractive/conventional manufacturing, which creates an object by removing material, additive manufacturing (AM) uses the technique of combining materials, typically layer by layer. While rapid prototyping and end-use product manufacturing are the next steps for additive manufacturing applications, the effects of these manufacturing processes and associated material flows on the environment are yet to be discovered. Along with the energy and resource usage of the AM unit, it's important to consider the effects of producing (powder) materials and finishing parts. From the environmental point of view, it is obvious that the additional effects produced during production should be offset by functional upgrades during the part’s use phase. The continuous growth of the various technologies of AM is an eye-opener for different fields. The technological advancements in AM can be a game changer in many areas like automobile, construction, medical, toy, and also in defense applications. This chapter provides details of the consequences of AM on the environmental and also provides the future prospectives in various industrial sectors.

Additive manufacturing, colloquially referred as 3D printing, is currently considered as an approaching mainstream adoption for highly flexible processing technology to be implemented by manufacturing industries. Moreover, additive manufacturing technology can be applied to design customized products without cost penalty and applied on any kind of plastic, metal, ceramic, concrete materials. Additionally, additive manufacturing facilitates the manufacture of complex and integrated functional designs in a single step, thereby potentially reducing the need of molds, shapes, and assembly work. Our findings show the five key principles relevant to manufacturing industries contributing to the economies of scale on incorporating to additive manufacturing technology. Furthermore, we have analyzed that once additive manufacturing technology is utilized at full capacity, no implications on increased volume on unit cost is found. In so doing, we have provided implications of additive manufacturing technology on profitable basis which provides motivation for future research. Meanwhile, it is seen that there is a demand for additive manufacturing in competitive markets as it reduces the barriers to market entry and paves a way to provide multiple markets at a single time. This ultimately result in lowering prices for the demand of consumers.

Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing process are varied from traditional manufacturing technique. The past decade has utilised this futuristic technique in a wide range of applications in industries. Starting from rapid prototyping in initial times to advanced end use customised products, 3D printing has grown really fast. It is believed by the researchers that AM is going to be as popular and revolutionary as cyberspace and healthcare. Added substance fabricating gives everyone such opportunities from a digital plan for making actual 3D items. While an innovation headway perspective is imperative for guaranteeing thriving, improvement in the monetary viewpoint offers the need for development. AM has shown its development in the two perspectives because of extraordinary expansion in private and modern applications. However, the uses of added substance fabricating innovation are still in an essential stage in non-industrial nations. This undertaking has presented the various chances of AM innovation for the non-industrial nations and conceivable outcomes utilization. A study was headed to identify the plans and prospects for the present generation and the upcoming one.