FOCUS ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
THE ADDITIVE FACTOR
Additive manufacturing ( AM ) changes the relationship of scale to production cost . Components can be produced with individual customisations . Prototyping and rapid iteration is possible without retooling or making new dies .
“ Additive manufacturing offers design flexibility , mass customisation , process sustainability and rapid product development .”
A model created in a laser sintering machine , using progressive additive manufacturing technology . Image : Shutterstock . com .
Additive Manufacturing ( AM ) is different from the subtractive method of production , which envisages grinding out unnecessary material from a block of material . Additive manufacturing involves a layer-by-layer addition of material to form an object while referring to a three-dimensional file with the help of a 3D printer and 3D printer software .
“ Additive manufacturing is helping manufacturers in prototyping , designing structures and end products , modelling and shortening time to market . As a result , production expenses have considerably reduced and manufacturers are in a better position to offer products at reasonable prices .
The adoption of 3D printers is expected to increase as a result of these benefits ,” explained analyst , Grand View Research , in its recent report on additive manufacturing .
There are several additive manufacturing technologies used in the market . These include stereolithography ; fuse deposition modelling ( FDM ); direct metal laser sintering ( DMLS ); selective laser sintering ( SLS ); inkjet printing ; polyjet printing ; laser metal deposition and electron beam melting ( EBM ); digital light processing ( DLP ); laminated object manufacturing and others .
AM offers design flexibility , mass customisation , process sustainability and rapid product development . The term AM
20 | ismr . net | ISMR April 2024