MARKET OVERVIEW
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: UNLOCKING THE DISRUPTIVE POTENTIAL Author: Steed WEBZELL
The growing popularity of 3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing bodes well for the sustainable future of Planet Earth.
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MORE INFORMATION
D printing or additive manufacturing has been described as one of the most disruptive technologies of the present age – the key to the future of manufacturing. Invented in the early 1980s, it has risen in popularity hugely in recent years thanks to the rapid evolution and convergence of several technologies in the digital era, making it easily accessible to professionals and hobbyists alike. Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D Printing, once the exclusive preserve of rapid prototyping, is now seen as the answer to produce products or parts anywhere, anytime. Unlike conventional or subtractive manufacturing, which makes use of processes like milling, cutting or grinding to remove material, AM involves adding of material, layer by layer, to form an object or a part, using a CAD software or 3D object scanner. There are many different processes, technologies and materials used in AM, the materials range from thermoplastics to metals, and ceramics to biochemicals, the latter often used in medical implants. One of the main advantages of additive manufacturing is that it facilitates production of customised parts on demand at relatively affordable costs – the parts range from a lost wheel of a toy car to the tracked wheels of the Mars Rover. More importantly, the process also enables use of intricate designs with complex geometries that reduce weight while adding strength to difficult and/or expensive to manufacture
24 | Industry EMEA | April 2020
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The fuel nozzle manufactured by GE for the LEAP jet engine.
