additive manufacturing systems

 

As of December 2017, additive manufacturing systems were on the market that ranged from $99 to $500,000 in price and were employed in industries including aerospace, architecture, automotive, defense, and medical replacements, among many others. For example, General Electric uses high-end 3D printers to build parts for turbines.^[99] Many of these systems are used for rapid prototyping, before mass production methods are employed. Higher education has proven to be a major buyer of desktop and professional 3D printers which industry experts generally view as a positive indicator.^[100] Libraries around the world have also become locations to house smaller 3D printers for educational and community access.^[101] Several projects and companies are making efforts to develop affordable 3D printers for home desktop use. Much of this work has been driven by and targeted at DIY/maker/enthusiast/early adopter communities, with additional ties to the academic and hacker communities.^[102]

Computed axial lithography is a method for 3D printing based on computerised tomography scans to create prints in photo-curable resin. It was developed by a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.^{[103][104][105]} Unlike other methods of 3D printing it does not build models through depositing layers of material like fused deposition modelling and stereolithography, instead it creates objects using a series of 2D images projected onto a cylinder of resin.^[103][105] It is notable for its ability to build an object much more quickly than other methods using resins and the ability to embed objects within the prints.^[104]

Liquid additive manufacturing (LAM) is a 3D printing technique which deposits a liquid or high viscose material (e.g. liquid silicone rubber) onto a build surface to create an object which then is vulcanised using heat to harden the object.^{[106][107][108]} The process was originally created by Adrian Bowyer and was then built upon by German RepRap.^{[106][109][110]}

A technique called programmable tooling uses 3D printing to create a temporary mold, which is then filled via a conventional injection molding process and then immediately dissolved.^[111]