Abstract
In recent years, Additive Manufacturing (AM), also called 3D printing, has been expanding into several industrial sectors due to the technology providing opportunities in terms of improved functionality, productivity, and competitiveness. While metal AM technologies have almost unlimited potential, and the range of applications has increased in recent years, industries have faced challenges in the adoption of these technologies and coping with a turbulent market. Despite the extensive work that has been completed on the properties of metal AM materials, there is still a need of a robust understanding of processes, challenges, application-specific needs, and considerations associated with these technologies. Therefore, the goal of this study is to present a comprehensive review of the most common metal AM technologies, an exploration of metal AM advancements, and industrial applications for the different AM technologies across various industry sectors. This study also outlines current limitations and challenges, which prevent industries to fully benefit from the metal AM opportunities, including production volume, standards compliance, post processing, product quality, maintenance, and materials range. Overall, this paper provides a survey as the benchmark for future industrial applications and research and development projects, in order to assist industries in selecting a suitable AM technology for their application.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing process that enables fabrication of objects by successively printing layer upon layer guided by a digital 3D model [1,2]
The aim of this study is to present a comprehensive review of the current state of metal AM, in particular introducing the most common processes, examining industrial applications across different industry sectors, exploring recent advancements, and outlining current challenges and limitations
Metal AM has some advantages over conventional manufacturing techniques in the fabrication of novel geometries, complex structures, and customised parts with minimum waste
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing process that enables fabrication of objects by successively printing layer upon layer guided by a digital 3D model [1,2]. This unique feature allows the manufacture of complex geometries that are almost impossible to fabricate using conventional systems. According to the data published by Wohlers et al [5], Figure 1 represents the distribution of AM revenues for the end-market in 2018, and represents the diverse industrial adoption of AM
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