EVOLUTION OF METAL 3D PRINTING
Our world relies on manufacturing. All material goods begin as raw materials, are developed into products, and are used and then discarded. But for centuries, the manufacturing process itself has evolved into one in which the final product is constrained by the tools one uses to produce the product. Complex shapes and routine customized parts can be expensive and, in some cases, impossible to produce using traditional manufacturing techniques. Traditional manufacturing is often called “subtractive manufacturing.” Casting, forming, moulding, and machining are complex processes that involve tooling, machinery, computers, and robots. However, such processes are labor-intensive and can be wasteful of raw material, time, and energy.
A relatively new way to manufacture components is through additive manufacturing (AM). AM begins with a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) model of the object, which is then digitized and sliced into model layers. The AM system then prints the layers in a build, adding each new layer on top of the prior layer. The final 3D object can be identical in form and function to that which could be machined via traditional manufacturing techniques.
Additive manufacturing (AM), or three-dimensional (3D) printing as it is often referenced, offers a new paradigm for engineering design and manufacturing that could have significant economic, geopolitical, environmental, intellectual property, and security implications. Although AM has existed at various levels of sophistication for decades, it has only recently caught the attention of policy and economics experts. In particular, the ability to print metal objects (e.g., titanium alloys) holds special promises.
3D printing is one of the most important technological advancement in Additive manufacturing which has been Implemented and recognized as a part of modern industry as it has many advantages over the conventional approach of which one of the most important factors is time. The technology is forever progressing, just as are the uses of this technology. To further improve the application areas of 3D printing, Metal 3D printing had been introduced in the form of Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). This made possible to fabricate functional parts to be directly assembled in the existing systems. This technology was further improved by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) which increased the number of materials which could be used to widen the application areas. Metal 3D printed parts have excellent physical properties and the available material range includes difficult to process otherwise materials, such as metal superalloys.
Owing to this development in the Metal 3D printing sector, the global additive manufacturing market size in 2018 estimated to about 12.8 billion USD compared to 5.2 billion USD in 2015. More and more companies are considering 3D printing over traditional manufacturing processes and this will result in the widespread use of technology making it more cost effective compared to the traditional process.
