CHAPTER Ⅰ

ADDITIVE MANUFATURING
Introduction
Additive (AM) is an appropriate name to describe the technologies that build 3D objects
by adding layer-upon-layer of material, whether the material is plastic, metal, concrete or one
day…..human tissue.
Common to AM technologies is the use of a computer, 3D modeling software (Computer Aided
Design or CAD), machine equipment and layering material. Once a CAD sketch is produced, the
AM equipment reads in data from the CAD file and lays downs or adds successive layers of liquid,
powder, sheet material or other, in a layer-upon-layer fashion to fabricate a 3D object.
The term AM encompasses many technologies including subsets like 3D Printing, Rapid
Prototyping (RP), Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM), layered manufacturing and additive
fabrication.
AM application is limitless. Early use of AM in the form of Rapid Prototyping focused on
preproduction visualization models. More recently, AM is being used to fabricate end-use products
in aircraft, dental restorations, medical implants, automobiles, and even fashion products.
While the adding of layer-upon-layer approach is simple, there are many applications of AM
technology with degrees of sophistication to meet diverse needs including:
 A visualization tool in design
 A means to create highly customized products for consumers and professionals alike
 As industrial tooling
 To produce small lots of production parts
 one day….production of human organs
Additive manufacturing is the formalized term for what used to be called rapid prototyping and
what is popularly called 3D Printing. The term rapid prototyping (RP) is used in a variety of
industries to describe a process for rapidly creating a system or part representation before final
release or commercialization. In other words, the emphasis is on creating something quickly and
that the output is a prototype or basis model from which further models and eventually the final
product will be derived. Management consultants and software engineers both also use the term
rapid prototyping to describe a process of developing business and software solutions in a
piecewise fashion that allows clients and other stakeholders to test ideas and provide feedback
during the development process. In a product development context, the term rapid prototyping was
used widely to describe technologies which created physical prototypes directly from digital model
data. This text is about these latter technologies, first developed for prototyping, but now used for
many more purposes. Users of RP technology have come to realize that this term is inadequate and

1
in particular does not effectively describe more recent applications of the technology.
Improvements in the quality of the output from these machines have meant that there is often a
much closer link to the final product. Many parts are in fact now directly manufactured in these
machines, so it is not possible for us to label them as “prototypes.” The term rapid prototyping also
overlooks the basic principle of these technologies in that they all fabricate parts using an additive
approach. A recently formed Technical Committee within ASTM International agreed that new
terminology should be adopted. While this is still under debate, recently adopted ASTM consensus
standards now use the term additive manufacturing.[1]

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CHAPTER Ⅱ
LITERATURE SURVEY

1) K. U. Leuven, “Progress in Additive Manufacturing and Rapid Prototyping,” vol. 47, no.
I, pp. 525–540, 1988.
Rapid prototyping generally refers to techniques that produce shaped parts by gradual creation or
addition of solid material, therein differing fundamentally from forming and material removal
manufacturing techniques. This paper tries to summarize one decade of research and developments
in rapid prototyping. The first part surveys some general economic and technological trends. The
second part of the paper goes into some more details on a process-by-process basis. Since the first
ClRP survey on rapid prototyping in 1991, only few real new RP processes emerged.
Notwithstanding, a lot of process variant and process improvements were conceived. Speed was
multiplied by a factor of ten.
The most impressive novelties are probably related to the materials. Today’s RP materials have
much better mechanical, thermal and dimensional properties and the pallet of materials that can be
processed covers nearly all materials. Process and material developments made RP suited to
produce hard metal, ceramic and composite parts that are difficult to fabricate with other
techniques.
The range of applications was also extended to include functional technical parts, medical parts,
rapid tooling, micro-fabrication, etc., although prototypes remain the main application.
In the early nineties, many manufacturing experts were sceptic towards the chance of those slow
and inaccurate rapid prototyping processes to be good for any other purpose than producing look-
at prototypes. Today, a great deal of the challenge has been won to turn additive manufacturing
into a production technique with a wide scope of application that may further revolutionize the
manufacturing world beyond the year 2000.

2) M. Vaezi, H. Seitz, and S. Yang, “A review on 3D micro-additive manufacturing

technologies,” 2012.
New microproducts need the utilization of a diversity of materials and have complicated 3D
microstructures with high aspect ratios. To date, many micro manufacturing processes have been
developed but specific class of such processes are applicable for fabrication of functional and true
3D micro components/assemblies. The aptitude to process a broad range of materials and the
ability to fabricate functional and geometrically complicated 3D microstructures provides the
additive manufacturing (AM) processes some profits over traditional methods, such as
lithography-based or micromachining approaches investigated widely in the past. In this paper, 3D
micro-AM processes have been classified into three main groups, including scalable micro-AM
systems, 3D direct writing, and hybrid processes, and the key processes have been reviewed

3
comprehensively. Principle and recent progress of each 3D micro-AM process has been described,
and the advantages and disadvantages of each process have been presented. Many techniques have
been developed up to now to respond the demand for high-quality 3D micro components used in
MEMS and micro engineering areas. The additive processes have been identified as a progressive
and effective 3D microfabrication technology during two decade evolution. This paper presented
a review on the key micro-AM processes used to build functional and true 3D microstructures.
The micro-AM systems have been continuously enhanced but more studies are still required to
improve the micro-AM systems and the quality of the 3D microstructures. Among micro-AM
systems, MSL and EFAB processes have demonstrated more acceptable results in 3D
microfabrication area as compare with other discussed systems.
3) M. Wall, “Thinking ahead the Future of Additive Manufacturing – Exploring the Research
Landscape.
It study reveals the Research and Strategy Map for selected AM research institutes. The study
comprises a sophisticated overview on the overall proceeding in the project “Research Strategies
for Additive Manufacturing Technologies“, and outlines the project’s results in extracts.
Comprehensive results are part of the confidential study that is accessible for DMRC partners. The
present study firstly provides an overview on AM. Therefore, actual developments are briefly
described, addressing current initiatives and up-coming trends, influencing AM and vice versa. In
addition, the preceding project is presented lining out future scenarios, applications and innovation
road mapping of required advancements.
Secondly, the AM research landscape was analyzed and an Additive Manufacturing Research Map
was developed. The Map indicates the intensity of research activity of selected research institutes,
differentiating various research-field/technology combinations. For each category of technologies,
a research activity profile was created.
By merging these results with the future relevance of the research fields and the technologies’
performance in these research fields in a third step, so called white spots were deduced. The future
relevance was validated as part of an expert survey. Using the white spots which basically represent
highly relevant research fields that however are not addressed in current research projects, strategic
levers for research strategies emerged, e.g. the interconnection within the research landscape and
integration of companies along the value chain. Based on this, consistent research strategies were
developed, and the institutes’ strategies were analyzed as well. The results were consolidated in a
Strategy Map, visualizing the institutes’ positions in relation to the consistent strategies.
A number of conclusions emerge in the present study. All in all, we can state that AM is definitely
a disruptive technology which is progressively permeating diverse markets. The technology is
certainly capable to trigger major upheavals reshaping supply chains and business models over the
next decade. But the question we asked in this project is: How can the research landscape
contribute to leverage a more beneficial output for the industry, and thus to accelerate the
penetration of AM. The analysis of the research landscape shows that there are many research
initiatives, many institutes are dealing with AM and a number of different strategies are discernible
Hence, we are doing a lot.

4
However, some research fields are repeatedly explored which costs time and money and does not
necessarily contribute to advance the technology. Moreover, there are still some white spots in the
research landscape that could be addressed more extensively
4) P. Taylor and D. W. Rosen, “Computer-Aided Design and Applications Computer-Aided
Design for Additive Manufacturing of Cellular Structures Computer-Aided Design for
Additive Manufacturing of Cellular Structures,” no. July 2014, pp. 37–41, 2013.
Two advances are reported in this paper. First, a new Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM)
method was presented that supports part and specification modeling, process planning, and
manufacturing simulations. Second, Manufacturable Elements (MELs) were proposed as an
intermediate representation for supporting the manufacturing related aspects of the method.
Specific conclusions from this work include: • Cellular material types provide one method for
providing mesostructured within a part for achieving improved stiffness, strength, or other
functional requirements, as compared to monolithic materials. Non-manifold modeling provides a
useful abstraction for representing some cellular mesostructured so that full 3D solid modeling is
not necessary when thousands of shape elements are present in a design. Manufacturing Elements
(MELs) enable process planning within discrete regions of a part and also enable process
simulation. MELs represent one approach to achieving shape-specific process planning, rather than
a reliance on general purpose process planning methods, typical of the AM industry at present.
Design for Additive Manufacturing should be concerned with the exploration of expanded design
spaces, rather than the focus on constraints imposed by the manufacturing processes, as is typical
of DFM methods.
5) L. E. Murr et al., “• Invited Review Metal Fabrication by Additive Manufacturing Using
Laser and Electron Beam Melting Technologies,” J. Mater. Sci. Technol., vol. 28, no. 1,
pp. 1–14, 2012.
Additive manufacturing using EBM and SLM processing is a new concept for metal fabrication
from pre-alloyed, atomized precursor powders which has emerged since the introduction of
commercial systems less than a decade ago. In this paper we have re- viewed and compared some
prominent examples of SLM and EBM-fabricated metal or alloy components which point up the
unique features of these technologies, especially the prospects for creating metal or alloy products
with controlled microstructural architectures. This could fundamentally alter or ex- tend the
traditional materials science and engineering paradigm relating structure-property-processing
(synthesis)-performance in a tetrahedron to a pyramid including microstructural architecture. As
recently noted by Lu “metals are still the major workhorse of our society and will remain so in the
future...” Indeed, additive manufacturing technologies utilizing EBM and SLM fabrication of
complex, multi-functional, monolithic products of con- temporary and advanced metals or alloys
pose the prospect for advanced modular manufacturing, or specialty metal product manufacturing
using complex CAD models. This is already being realized in many parts of the world.
6) F. P. W. Melchels, M. A. N. Domingos, T. J. Klein, J. Malda, P. J. Bartolo, and D. W.
Hutmacher, “Progress in Polymer Science Additive manufacturing of tissues and organs,”
Prog. Polym. Sci., vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 1079–1104, 2012.

5
Additive manufacturing techniques offer the potential to fabricate organized tissue constructs to
repair or replace damaged or diseased human tissues and organs. Using these techniques, spatial
variations of cells along multiple axes with high geometric complexity in combination with
different biomaterials can be generated. The level of control offered by these computer-controlled
technologies to design and fabricate tissues will accelerate our understanding of the governing
factors of tissue formation and function. Moreover, it will provide a valuable tool to study the
effect of anatomy on graft performance. In this review, we discuss the rationale for engineering
tissues and organs by combining computer-aided design with additive manufacturing technologies
that encompass the simultaneous deposition of cells and materials. Current strategies are presented,
particularly with respect to limitations due to the lack of suitable polymers, and requirements to
move the current concepts to practical application. In summary, additive manufacturing will enable
the production of cell-containing constructs in a computer- controlled manner, thereby bypassing
costly and poorly controlled manual cell seeding. Although big steps have been taken since the
origins early in the past decade, the technology is still in its infancy. It is now critical to address
key issues in biomaterials development (matching degradation to tissue development and
providing adequate mechanical properties, while achieving rheological properties required for the
manufacturing process), construct design (including vascularization of the construct), and system
integration (inclusion of multiple cells, materials and manufacturing processes in a sterile and
controlled environment). It is also important to pursue the development and commercialization of
TECs in a manner that is acceptable to regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug
Administration, where they will more than likely be classed as “combination products”, to
efficiently translate research outcomes to clinical benefits. With the joint effort of researchers
combining polymer chemistry, mechatronics, computer engineering, information technology,
biology and medicine, AM techniques can evolve into a technology platform that allows users to
create tissue-engineered constructs with economics of scale in the years to come.
7) N. Guo and M. C. Leu, “Additive manufacturing : technology, applications and research
needs,” vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 215–243, 2013.
Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has been researched and developed for more than 20
years. Rather than removing materials, AM processes make three-dimensional parts directly from
CAD models by adding materials layer by layer, offering the beneficial ability to build parts with
geometric and material complexities that could not be produced by subtractive manufacturing
processes. Through intensive research over the past two decades, significant progress has been
made in the development and commercialization of new and innovative AM processes, as well as
numerous practical applications in aerospace, automotive, biomedical, energy and other fields.
This paper reviews the main processes, materials and applications of the current AM technology
and presents future research needs for this technology. Various additive manufacturing processes,
techniques and systems have been developed for over 20 years. With advances in this technology,
the applications of AM processes have continued to shift from rapid prototyping to rapid
manufacturing of tooling and end-use parts for aerospace, automotive, biomedical and other
applications. AM processes, materials, applications and future research needs are reviewed in this
paper. Based on the state of starting material, AM processes are classified into four categories:
liquid, filament/paste, powder, and solid sheet. The techniques of creating a layer include UV light

6
induced polymerization, ink-jet printing, extrusion, laser melting, etc. Polymers are the initially
investigated materials in AM technology, and recently more and more attention has been paid to
AM of metals, ceramics and composite materials to fabricate functional parts. High- power laser
and electron beam based AM processes have demonstrated the capability of additive technology
to manufacture fully dense metal components with mechanical properties comparable to those of
bulk metal. Although attempts have been made to directly fabricate ceramic components by AM,
intensive research is still needed before successful commercialization can be made. Various
uniform composites including polymer-ceramic, metal-metal, metal-ceramic, and ceramic-ceramic
have been investigated using AM processes. With the ability to locally control the material
composition, AM technology has been developed to build functionally graded materials having
new properties that conventional materials do not possess. AM technology has begun to exhibit
great application potential and advantages in the aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and energy
fields, by providing a cost-effective and time-efficient way to produce low- volume, customized
products with complicated geometries and advanced material properties. Although AM technology
offers numerous advantages over subtractive manufacturing methods, it is still regarded as a niche
technology by most industries. To gain further acceptance from industry, research and
development is needed in terms of designs, materials, novel processes and machines, process
modeling and control, biomedical applications, and energy and sustainability applications in order
to broaden the applications of AM technology and elevate it to a mainstream technology
8) K. V Wong and A. Hernandez, “A Review of Additive Manufacturing,” vol. 2012, 2012.
In this paper article is discussed the early versions of additive manufacturing for making fast
prototypes that was initiated by the necessity of speeding the process in model development and
shortening the time between product development and market placement. Additive manufacturing
processes take the information from a CAD file that is later converted to an STL file. In this
process, the drawing made in the CAD software is approximated by triangles and sliced containing
the information of each layer that is going to be printed. There is also a discussion of the relevant
additive manufacturing processes and their applications and a review of how the parts are made
using these additive manufacturing processes. The continuous and increasing growth experienced
since the early days and the successful results up to date, there is optimism that additive
manufacturing has a significant place in the future of manufacturing In 2004, the Society of
Manufacturing Engineers did a classification of the various technologies, but there are at least four
additional significant technologies in 2012. Additive manufacturing technologies have been
welcomed in the aerospace industry because of the possibility to manufacture lighter structures to
reduce weight, which is the common goal of aircraft and spacecraft designers. In the automotive
industry, additive manufacturing is advantageous also in reproducing difficult-to-find parts, for
example, parts for classic cars. Additive manufacturing is transforming the practice of medicine;
now it is possible to have a precise model of a bone before a surgery and the possibility of creating
an accurate transplant, no matter how complex its form is. Additive manufacturing is making work
easier for architects, who now can print the 3D models of whatever complex shape for a civil
project they have in mind. In addition, studies are reviewed which were about the strength of
products made in additive manufacturing processes. Review has been presented of studies
considering nonmetal material processes and metal material processes in which a comparison of

7
strength of the products was made by the various processes. However, there is still a lot of work
and research to be accomplished before additive manufacturing processes become the standard in
the manufacturing industry because not every commonly used manufacturing material can be
handled. The accuracy needs improvement to eliminate the necessity of a finishing process and to
be able to produce parts that require the highest levels of precision.

8
CHAPTER Ⅲ
1. The Generic AM Process
AM involves a number of steps that move from the virtual CAD description to the physical
resultant part. Different products will involve AM in different ways and to different degrees. Small,
relatively simple products may only make use of AM for visualization models, while larger, more
complex products with greater engineering content may involve AM during numerous stages and
iterations throughout the development process. [2]Furthermore, early stages of the product
development process may only require rough parts, with AM being used because of the speed at
which they can be fabricated. At later stages of the process, parts may require careful cleaning and
post-processing (including sanding, surface preparation, and painting) before they are used, with
AM being useful here because of the complexity of form that can be created without having to
consider tooling. Later on, we will investigate thoroughly the different stages of the AM process,
but to summarize, most AM processes involve, to some degree at least, the following eight steps
1.1 CAD
All AM parts must start from a software model that fully describes the external geometry. This
can involve the use of almost any professional CAD solid modeling software, but the output must
be a 3D solid or surface representation. Reverse engineering equipment (e.g., laser and optical
scanning) can also be used to create this representation.
1.2 Conversion to STL
Nearly every AM machine accepts the STL file format, which has become a de facto standard, and
nowadays nearly every CAD system can output such a file format. This file describes the external
closed surfaces of the original CAD model and forms the basis for calculation of the slices.
1.3 Transfer to AM Machine and STL File Manipulation
The STL file describing the part must be transferred to the AM machine. Here, there may be some
general manipulation of the file so that it is the correct size, position, and orientation for building.
1.4 Machine Setup
The AM machine must be properly set up prior to the build process. Such settings would relate to
the build parameters like the material constraints, energy source, layer thickness, timings, etc.
1.5 Build
Building the part is mainly an automated process and the machine can largely carry on without
supervision. Only superficial monitoring of the machine needs to take place at this time to ensure
no errors have taken place like running out of material, power or software glitches, etc.
1.6 Removal
Once the AM machine has completed the build, the parts must be removed. This may require
interaction with the machine, which may have safety interlocks to ensure for example that the
operating temperatures are sufficiently low or that there are no actively moving parts.

9
 1.7 Post-processing
Once removed from the machine, parts may require an amount of additional cleaning up before
they are ready for use. Parts may be weak at this stage or they may have supporting features that
must be removed. This therefore often requires time and careful, experienced manual
manipulation.
1.8 Application
Parts may now be ready to be used. However, they may also require additional treatment before
they are acceptable for use. For example, they may require priming and painting to give an
acceptable surface texture and finish. Treatments may be laborious and lengthy if the finishing
requirements are very demanding. They may also be required to be assembled together with other
mechanical or electronic components to form a final model or product. While the numerous stages
in the AM process have now been discussed, it is important to realize that many AM machines
require careful maintenance. Many AM machines use fragile laser or printer technology that must
be carefully monitored and that should preferably not be used in a dirty or noisy environment.
While machines are generally designed to operate unattended, it is important to include regular
checks in the maintenance schedule, and that different technologies require different levels of
maintenance. It is also important to note that AM processes fall outside of most materials and
process standards; explaining the recent interest in the ASTM F42 Technical Committee on
Additive Manufacturing Technologies, which is working to address and overcome this problem.
However, many machine vendors recommend and provide test patterns that can be used
periodically to confirm that the machines are operating within acceptable limits. In addition to the
machinery, materials may also require careful handling. The raw materials used in some AM
processes have limited shelf-life and may also be required to be kept in conditions that prevent
them from unwanted chemical reactions. Exposure to moisture, excess light, and other
contaminants should also be avoided. Most processes use materials that can be reused for more
than one build. However, it may be that reuse could degrade the properties if performed many
times over, and therefore a procedure for maintaining consistent material quality through recycling
should also be observed.[3]

2. The Relevant Additive Manufacturing Processes and Their Applications

Additive manufacturing processes take the information from a computer-aided design (CAD) file
that is later converted to a stereo lithography (STL) file. In this process, the drawing made in the
CAD software is approximated by triangles and sliced containing the information of each layer
that is going to be printed. There is a discussion of the relevant additive manufacturing processes
and their applications. The aerospace industry employs them because of the possibility of
manufacturing lighter structures to reduce weight. Additive manufacturing is transforming the
practice of medicine and making work easier for architects. In 2004, the Society of Manufacturing
Engineers did a classification of the various technologies and there are at least four additional
significant technologies in 2012. Studies are reviewed which were about the strength of products
made in additive manufacturing processes. However, there is still a lot of work and research to be

10
accomplished before additive manufacturing technologies become standard in the manufacturing
industry because not every commonly used manufacturing material can be handled.[4] The
accuracy needs improvement to eliminate the necessity of a finishing process. The continuous and
increasing growth experienced since the early days and the successful results up to the present time
allow for optimism that additive manufacturing has a significant place in the future of
manufacturing.
2.1 Rapid Prototyping
The first form of creating layer by layer a three-dimensional object using computer-aided design
(CAD) was rapid prototyping, developed in the 1980’s for creating models and prototype parts.
This technology was created to help the realization of what engineers have in mind. Rapid
prototyping is one of the earlier additive manufacturing (AM) processes. It allows for the creation
of printed parts, not just models. Among the major advances that this process presented to product
development are the time and cost reduction, human interaction, and consequently the product
development cycle , also the possibility to create almost any shape that could be very difficult to
machine. However, at the present time it is not yet adopted in the manufacturing sector, but
scientists, medical doctors, students and professors, market researchers, and artists use it with rapid
prototyping, scientists and students can rapidly build and analyze models for theoretical
comprehension and studies. Doctors can build a model of a damaged body to analyze it and plan
better the procedure, market researchers can see what people think of a particular new product,
and rapid prototyping makes it easier for artists to explore their creativity. The steps involved in
product development using rapid prototyping. Here, it can be seen that creating models faster save
a lot of time and there is the possibility of testing more models. At the present time, the
technologies of rapid prototyping are not just used for creating models, with the advantages in
plastic materials it has been possible to create finished products, of course at the beginning they
were developed to expand the situations tested in the prototyping process. Nowadays, these
technologies have other names like 3D printing, and so forth, but they all have the origins of rapid
prototyping. According to Wohler’s report 2011 the growth rate for 2010 was 24.1%. The
compound annual growth rate for the industry’s history, until 2010, is 26.2 percent. In addition, it
is important to notice that rapid manufacturing became possible by other technologies, which are
computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer numerical
control (CNC).This three technologies combined together made possible the printing of three-
dimensional objects. Rapid prototyping is still not the best solution for all Cases, in some cases
CNC machining processes still need to be used. Parts dimension could be larger than available
additive manufacturing printers. Materials for rapid prototyping are still limited. It is clear that at
least it is possible to print metals and ceramics but not all commonly used manufacturing materials.
In Figure 3, there is an overview of the different additive

11
 Fig-1:-Product development cycle

Manufacturing processes that are going to be further dis- cussed. Here in this figure adapted from,
the criterion used is to classify these processes into liquid base, solid based, and powder based.
The processes included in this review are considered the most relevant in the past, and promising
for the future of the industry. The processes considered are stereo lithography (SL), Polyjet, fused
deposition modeling (FDM), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), 3D printing (3DP),
Prometal, selective laser sintering (SLS), laminated engineered net shaping (LENS), and electron
beam melting (EBM). The liquid and powder based processes seem more promising than solid-
based processes of which LOM is the predominant one today. In 2004 [11], EBM, Prometal,
LENS, and Polyjet were nonexistent. These technologies were first created to produce models, but
they have expanded since then. In the chart is presented a survey made by Wohler’s in which 24
manufacturers participated and so did 65 services of 5000+ users and costumers. In Figure 4 is
shown the amount of responses received by these companies.[5]

2.2 Stereolithography
Stereolithography (SL), developed by 3D Systems, Inc., was the first and is most widely used
process of rapid prototyping, so in the past the two terms were used synonymously. This is a liquid-
based process that consists in the curing or solidification of a photosensitive polymer when an
ultraviolet laser makes contact with the resin. The process starts with a model in a CAD software
and then it is translated to a STL file in which the pieces are “cut in slices” containing the
information for each layer. The thickness of each layer as well as the resolution depend on the
equipment used. A platform is built to anchor the piece and supporting the overhanging structures.
Then the UV laser is applied to the resin solidifying specific locations of each layer. When the
layer is finished the platforms lowered and finally when the process is done the excess is drained
and can be reused. A newer version of this process has been developed with a higher resolution
and is called micro stereolithography. This process that has a layer thickness of less than 10 µm
can be achieved. In Figure 5 are shown the basic parts of a stereolithography machine. The basic
principle of this process is the photo polymerization, which is the process where a liquid monomer

12
or a polymer converts into a solidified polymer by applying ultraviolet light which acts as a catalyst
for the reactions; this process is also called ultraviolet curing. It is also possible to have powders
suspended in the liquid like ceramics. There are errors induced to the final piece from the process
of stereolithography.

Fig-2:- Three-dimensional printing processes

One is over curing, which occurs to overhang parts because there is no fusing with a bottom layer.
Another is the scanned line shape, which is introduced all the resin has to be drained and filled
with the new material when the process reach the layer where the change is going to take place.
This must occur even if the first material is going to be used again because is only possible to print
consecutive layers resin. In the software a scheduling process has to be specified.

2.3 The STL File

The STL file was created in 1987 by 3D Systems Inc. when they first developed the
stereolithography, and the STL file stands for this term. It is also called Standard Tessellation
Language. There are other types of files, but the STL file is the standard for every additive
manufacturing process. The STL file creation process mainly converts the continuous geometry in
the CAD file into a header, small triangles, or coordinates triplet list of x, y and z coordinates and
the normal vector to the triangles. This process is inaccurate and the smaller the triangles the closer
to reality. The interior and exterior surfaces are identified using the right-hand rule and vertices
cannot share a point with a line. Additional edges are added when the figure is sliced. The slicing
process also introduces inaccuracy to the file because here the algorithm replaces the continuous
contour with discrete stair steps. To reduce this inaccuracy, the technique for a feature that has a
small radius in relation to the dimension of the part is to create STL files separately and to combine
them later. The dimension in z direction should be designed to have a multiple of the layer
thickness value. In Figure 4 is shown the position of the STL file creation in the data flow of
a rapid prototyping process. In Figure 5 is shown the data flow in the STL file creation software.

13
Other types of files are stereolithography contour (SLC) and SLI from 3D Systems, CLI from
EOS, Hewlett-Packard graphics language (HPGL) from Hewlett-Packard, stereolithography
contour from Stratus’s, and F&S from Fickle and Schwarze and initial graphics exchange
specifications (IGES).[6]

Fig-3:- Stereolithography

Fig-4:- Data flow in rapid prototyping

14
 Fig-5:- Data flow in STL file creation
2.4 3DP
3DP process is a MIT-licensed process in which water-based liquid binder is supplied in a jet
onto a starch-based powder to print the data from a CAD drawing. The powder particles lie in a
powder bed and they are glued together when the binder is jetted. This process is called 3DP
because of the similarity with the inkjet printing process that is used for two-dimensional
printing in paper. This process can handle a high variety of polymers.
2.5 Fused Deposition Modeling
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing process in which a thin filament
of plastic feeds a machine where a print head melts it and extrude it in a thickness typically of

15
0.25mm. Materials used in this process are polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
(ABS), poly phenyl sulfone (PPSF), PC-ABS blends, and PC-ISO, which is a medical grade PC.
The main advantages of this process are that no chemical post-processing required, no resins to
cure, less expensive machine, and materials resulting in a more cost effective process. The
disadvantages are that the resolution on the z axis is low compared to other additive manufacturing
process (0.25mm), so if a smooth surface is needed a finishing process is required and it is a slow
process sometimes taking days to build large complex parts. To save time some models permit two
modes; a fully dense mode and a sparse mode that save time but obviously reducing the mechanical
properties. In Figure 8 is shown the basics fused deposition modeling process.

2.6 Prometal
Prometal is a three-dimensional printing process to build injection tools and dies. This is a powder-
based process in which stainless steel is used. The printing process occurs when a liquid binder is
spurt out in jets to steel powder. The powder is located in a powder bed that is controlled by build
pistons that lowers the bed when each layer is finished and a feed piston that supply the material
for each layer. After finishing, the residual powder must be removed. When building a mold no
post processing is required. If a functional part is being built, sintering, infiltration, and finishing
processes are required. In the sintering process, the part is heated to 350◦F for 24 hour hardening
the binder fusing with the steel in a 60% porous specimen. In the infiltration process, the piece is
infused with bronze powder when they are heated together to more than 2000◦F in an alloy of 60%
stainless steel and 40% bronze. The same process, but with different sintering temperatures and
times, has been used with other materials like a tungsten carbide powder sintered with a zirconium
copper alloy for the manufacturing of rocket nozzles; these parts have better properties than CNC
machined parts of the same material.
2.7 Selective Laser Sintering
This is a three-dimensional printing process in which a powder is sintered or fuses by the
application of a carbon dioxide laser beam. The chamber is heated to almost the melting point of
the material. The laser fused the powder at a specific location for each layer specified by the design.
The particles lie loosely in a bed, which is controlled by a piston, that is lowered the same amount
of the layer thickness each time a layer is finished. This process offers a great variety of materials
that could be used: plastics, metals, combination of metals, combinations of metals and polymers,
and combinations of metals and ceramic. Examples of the polymers that could be used are acrylic
styrene and polyamide (nylon), which show almost the same mechanical properties as the injected
parts. It is also possible to use composites or reinforced polymers, that is, polyamide with
fiberglass. They also could be reinforced with metals like copper. For metals, a binder is necessary.
This could be a polymer binder, which will be later removed by heating or a mix of metals with
very different melting point. Parts of alumina with high strength can be built with polyvinyl
alcohol, which is an organic binder.

16
 Fig-6:- Fused deposition modeling

The main advantages of this technology are the wide range of materials that can be used. Unused
powder can be recycled. The disadvantages are that the accuracy is limited by the size of particles
of the material, oxidation needs to be avoided by executing the process in an inert gas atmosphere
and for the process to occur at constant temperature near the melting point. This process is also
called direct metal laser sintering.
2.8 Electron Beam Melting
A process similar to SLS is electron beam melting (EBM). This process is relatively new but is
growing rapidly. In this process, what melts the powder is an electron laser beam powered by a
high voltage, typically 30 to 60KV. The process takes place in a high vacuum chamber to avoid
oxidation issues because it is intended for building metal parts. Other than this, the process is very
similar to SLS. EBM also can process a high variety of pre alloyed metals. One of the future uses
of this process is the manufacturing in outer space, since it is all done in a high vacuum chamber.
2.9 Laser Engineered Net Shaping
In this additive manufacturing process, a part is built by melting metal powder that is injected into
a specific location. It becomes molten with the use of a high-powered laser beam. The material
solidifies when it is cooled down. The process occur sin closed chamber with an argon atmosphere.
This process permits the use of a high variety of metals and combination of them like stainless
steel, nickel- based alloys, titanium-6 aluminium-4 vanadium, tooling steel, copper alloys, and so

17
forth. Alumina can be used too. This process is also used to repair parts that by other processes
will be impossible or more expensive to do. One problem in this process could be the residual
stresses by uneven heating and cooling processes that can be significant in high- precision
processes like turbine blades repair. Figure 7 is an illustration of how the part is made in this
process.

Fig-7:- Laser engineered net shaping

2.10 Laminated Object Manufacturing
Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) is a process that combines additive and subtractive
techniques to build a part layer by layer. In this process the materials come in sheet form. The
layers are bonded together by pressure and heat application and using a thermal adhesive coating.
A carbon dioxide laser cuts the material to the shape of each layer given the information of the 3D
model from the CAD and STL file. The advantages of this process are the low cost, no post
processing and supporting structures required, no deformation or phase change during the process,
and the possibility of building large parts. The disadvantages are that the fabrication material is
subtracted thus wasting it, low surface definition, the material is directional dependent for
machinability and mechanical properties, and complex internal cavities are very difficult to be
built. This process can be used for models with papers, composites, and metals.
2.11 Polyjet
This is an additive manufacturing process that uses inkjet technologies to manufacture physical
models. The inkjet head moves in the x and y axes depositing a photopolymer which is cured by
ultraviolet lamps after each layer is finished. The layer thickness achieved in this process is 16 µm,
so the produced parts have a high resolution. However, the parts produced by this process are
weaker than others like stereolithography and selective laser sintering. A gel-type polymer is used
for supporting the overhang features and after the process is finished this material is water jetted
with this process, parts of multiple colors can be built.[7]

18
 3. Materials
In its early development, AM technology was applied to produce plastic prototypes, and many AM
processes (i.e., SLA, SLS, FDM, 3DP) have been developed to produce parts with various plastics.
After intense development and exploration, AM technology has become more and more capable
of producing complex net-shaped or nearly net- shaped parts in materials that can be directly used
as functional parts, including metals, ceramics and composites. Table 1 lists the types of materials
that can be processed by AM technology and the corresponding processes. The various types of
materials are discussed in the following sections.
3.1 Polymers
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units, including a large class of
natural and synthetic polymers. For AM processes, polymer materials such as photosensitive resin,
Nylon, elastomer, ABS and wax can be used to produce parts with the SLA, SLS, FDM and 3DP
processes. Nylon, i.e., polyamide (PA) [107,108], is one of the most widely used and investigated
polymers in the SLS process because it melts and bonds by laser better than other polymers [41].
ABS plastic is also a popular material for use in the FDM process [109]. Photo- curable polymers,
which are used by the SLA process, cure when exposed to a laser with a certain wavelength.
Various polymers have been processed by the 3DP process, such as waxes, elastomeric, and starch-
based polymers [110]. Nylon, elastomer, ABS plastic and wax are thermoplastics, which change
from a harder (solid and glassy) structure to a softer structure before finally melting into a viscous
flowing liquid when heated to high temperatures. Photo- sensitive resins are usually thermosetting
polymers, which will decompose rather than melt at high temperatures. The polymeric parts
produced by AM technology can be used for prototypes, sacrificial patterns for investment casting,
and even functional parts. In addition to industrial polymers, biocompatible polymers, such as poly
ecapro lactone (PCL) and poly ether ketone (PEEK) and starch-based polymers, also have been
investigated with the SLS [111,112], FDM [113,114] and 3DP processes [110] for biomedical
applications such as implants and tissue scaffolds. Polymer Polymer based components in medium
and large quantities usually are manufactured “indirectly” by injection molding in industry. AM
processes can be used to fabricate these molds (called rapid tooling) to reduce the time and cost of
new tool development, which will be discussed in the next section.
3.2 Metals
Metal products can be produced using AM processes in either an “indirect” way, in which a binder
is used to bond metal particles forming a 3D part and post-processing is required after the AM
process, or a “direct” way, in which metal particles are fully melted by the AM process to make
the final part directly. Also, metal parts can be produced by employing the shells, cores or
sacrificial patterns fabricated by AM processes (called rapid tooling) in investment casting or sand
casting [115]. A classification of metal AM processes is given in Fig. 2.

19
Material type AM Manufacturer/research Material(s)
Process(es) institute(s)
3D
Polymers SLA,MJM 3D System Photo-curable polymers
MJM 3D System Wax
SLS EOS Polyamide 12, GF polyamide,
polystyrene
FDM Stratasys ABS, PC-ABS, PC, ULTEM
3DP 3D System Acrylic plastics, wax
Metals SLM EOS Stainless steel GP1, PH1 and 17-4,
cobalt chrome MP1, titanium
Ti6Al14V, ELI and TiCP, IN718,
merging steel MS1, AlSi20Mg
LDM/LENS Optomec Steel H13, 17-4 PH, PH 13-8 Mo,
304, 316 and 420, aluminum 4047,
titanium TiCP, Ti-6-4, Ti-6-2-4-2 and
Ti6- 2-4-6, IN625, IN617, Cu-Ni
alloy, cobalt satellite 21
EBM Arcam Ti6Al14V, Ti6Al14V, ELI, cobalt
chrome
Ceramics SLA 3D System Suspension of Zirconia, silica,
alumina, or other ceramic particles in
liquid resin
FDM EOS Alumina, PZT, Si3N4, zirconia, silica,
bio ceramic

SLS 3D System Alumina, silica, zirconia, ZrB2, bio

ceramic, graphite, bio glass, and
various sands
3DP Arcam Zirconia, silica, alumina, Ti3SiC2, bio
ceramic, and various sands
Composites FDM 3D System Polymer-metal, polymer-ceramic,
short fiber-reinforced composites
3DP EOS Polymer-matrix, metal-ceramic,
ceramic-ceramic short fiber-reinforced
composites
LOM Optomec Polymer-matrix, ceramic-matrix, fiber
and particulate- reinforced composites
SLS, SLM 3D System Metal-metal, metal-ceramic, ceramic-
ceramic, polymer- matrix, short fiber-
reinforced composites
LMD/LENS 3D System CoCrMo/Ti6Al4V, TiC/Ti, Ti/TiO2,
Ti6Al4V/IN718
FDM EOS PZT
FEF Optomec Al2O3/ZrO2
Table-1:- Materials and corresponding AM processes Material

20
 Fig-8:- Classification of metal AM processes
3.3 Ceramics
Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic, solid materials. Examples include alumina, silica and
zirconia. Ceramics usually have great chemical resistance and ability to withstand high
temperatures, and they have been applied widely in industry. However, these materials are very
brittle and hard, which makes them difficult to manufacture, especially for producing parts with
complex geometries. AM technology has been successfully demonstrated its advantages in
producing ceramic parts through both “direct” and “indirect” methods.
3.4 Composites
Composites are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent
materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties that remain separate and
distinct at the macroscopic or microscopic scale within the finished structure but exhibit properties
that cannot be achieved by any of the materials acting alone. The materials in a composite can be
mixed uniformly, resulting in a homogeneous compound (uniform composite), or non-uniformly,
resulting in an inhomogeneous compound (e.g., functionally graded materials) in which the
composition varies gradually over volume, leading to corresponding changes in the properties of
the composite material.[8]

4. Application
The development of innovative, advanced AM techniques has progressed greatly in recent years,
yielding broader and broader industry applications. Compared with subtractive manufacturing,
AM is particularly suitable for producing low volumes of products, especially for parts with

21
complex geometries. AM processes also offer great potential for customization, such as fabricating
personalized implants for hip and knee replacements. The following review AM applications in
the aerospace, automobile, biomedical and energy fields.
4.1 Aerospace
Aerospace components often have complex geometries and are made usually from advanced
materials, such as titanium alloys, nickel super alloys, special steels or ultra- high-temperature
ceramics, which are difficult, costly and time-consuming to manufacture. Additionally, aerospace
production runs are usually small, limited to a maximum of several thousand parts. Therefore, AM
technology is highly suitable for aerospace applications.

Fig-9 (a) Mixing nozzle for gas turbine exhaust produced by LENS (b) compressor
support case for gas turbine engine produced by EBM (c) turbine blade with internal
cooling channels produced by SLM (d) turbine blades fabricated by SLM (e) hollow
static turbine blade cast using the mold and cores fabricated by 3DP (f) engine housing
produced by SLM

22
 Fig-10:-Damaged blisk repaired using LENS
4.2 Automotive
New product development is critical for the automotive industry, but developing a new product
is often a very costly and time-consuming process. The automotive industry has been using AM
technology as an important tool in the design and development of automotive components
because it can shorten the development cycle and reduce manufacturing and product costs. AM
processes also have been used to make small quantities of structural and functional parts, such as
engine exhausts, drive shafts, gear box components and breaking systems for luxury, low-
volume vehicles. Unlike passenger cars, vehicles for motorsports usually use light-weight alloys
(e.g., titanium) and have highly complex structures and low production volumes. Companies and
research institutes also have successfully applied AM techniques to manufacture functional
components for racing vehicles

23
Fig-11(a) F1 upright (right) cast via rapid casting process using polystyrene patterns produced by
SLS (left) (b) suspension mounting bracket for Red Bull Racing produced by LENS(c) race car
gear box produced by EBM (d) exhaust manifold produced by SLM (e) oil pump housing
produced by SLM (f) engine block cast using the mold and cores fabricated by 3DP
4.3 Biomedical
Recent developments in AM technology, as well as in biomaterials, biologic sciences and
biomedicine, have broadened the application of AM techniques in the biomedical field to such
products substantially as orthopedic implants, tissue scaffolds, artificial organs, medical devices,
micro-vasculature networks, and biologic chips (produced by printing/patterning cells and
proteins Many companies, research institutes and universities are exploring ways to apply AM
processes to manufacturing of medical implants. The application of AM in orthopedic and dental
implants benefits significantly from the ability of AM technology to manufacture complex
geometries and structures, to make rough, engineered surface for more effective bone
integration, and to allow implants to be personalized to match each patient’s individual needs.
Arcam. In tissue engineering, three-dimensional scaffolds play a vital role as extra-cellular
matrices onto which cells can attach, grow and form new tissues. The conventional fabrication of
tissue scaffolds has relied on techniques such as solvent casting, melt molding, freeze drying,
and foam replication to create the shape and architecture of a scaffold.

24
CHAPTER Ⅳ
Conclusion
AM application is limitless. Early use of AM in the form of Rapid Prototyping focused on
preproduction visualization models. More recently, AM is being used to fabricate end-use products
in aircraft, dental restorations, medical implants, automobiles, and even fashion products. AM
involves a number of steps that move from the virtual CAD description to the physical resultant
part. Different products will involve AM in different ways and to different degrees. Small,
relatively simple products may only make use of AM for visualization models, while larger, more
complex products with greater engineering content may involve AM during numerous stages and
iterations throughout the development process. However, there is still a lot of work and research
to be accomplished before additive manufacturing technologies become standard in the
manufacturing industry because not every commonly used manufacturing material can be handled.
The accuracy needs improvement to eliminate the necessity of a finishing process. The continuous
and increasing growth experienced since the early days and the successful results up to the present
time allow for optimism that additive manufacturing has a significant place in the future of
manufacturing. In its early development, AM technology was applied to produce plastic
prototypes, and many AM processes (i.e., SLA, SLS, FDM, 3DP) have been developed to produce
parts with various plastics. After intense development and exploration, AM technology has
become more and more capable of producing complex net-shaped or nearly net- shaped parts in
materials that can be directly used as functional parts, including metals, ceramics and composites.
The development of innovative, advanced AM techniques has progressed greatly in recent years,
yielding broader and broader industry applications. Compared with subtractive manufacturing,
AM is particularly suitable for producing low volumes of products, especially for parts with
complex geometries. AM processes also offer great potential for customization, such as fabricating
personalized implants for hip and knee replacements. The following review AM applications in
the aerospace, automobile, biomedical and energy fields. AM should be satisfied. Although it is
aimed primarily at students and educators, the authors do very well to appeal to those in research
and manufacturing positions too. Excellent explanations of basic concepts through to the state-of-
the-art make this a great starting point for in-depth research, whilst the process selection tools and
business opportunities chapters will be very useful for manufacturers looking to explore this
technology. Qualification and certification has been repeatedly identified as a challenge to
widespread adoption of AM structurally critical components; the current process is too costly and
takes too long. Hence, technological alternative means of accelerated qualification are needed.
Ultimately, the business case assessment will determine the success of AM. AM is currently
favored in small production lots in which the higher cost of AM specific raw materials is offset by
a reduction in fixed costs associated with conventional manufacturing. Further, there is a value to
be placed on the speed, versatility, and adaptability of AM as it allows for just- in-time
manufacturing. The economic viability of producing large production lots of AM parts depends
heavily on the reduction of reoccurring costs, i.e., the cost of the starting materials used in AM
fabrication.

25
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[3] M. Wall, “Thinking ahead the Future of Additive Manufacturing – Exploring the Research
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[4] P. Taylor and D. W. Rosen, “Computer-Aided Design and Applications Computer-Aided
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