Polymer-Based Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

3D printing is a manufacturing technique where parts are built in a layer-by-layer fashion. The earliest embodiments were based on generating successive layers of solidified materials at the air liquid interface through exposure with actinic radiation and the lowering of the growing object into a vat of photoactive material. One of the earliest concepts was by Otto Munz in 1956 where he describes “photo-glyph recording”. However, many today consider Charles Hull the father of 3D printing as it was his patent that coined the term “stereolithography” and was the first to commercialize a 3D printing apparatus. Since then, there has being a multitude of technologies developed which fall into the category of 3D printing. While photochemical resin curing remains one of the most widely utilised 3D printing techniques, other techniques based on the extrusion of polymers, cutting sheets or films and thermally or chemically binding powdered materials have all reached the commercial markets. This chapter aims to give an outline of the most common polymer-based 3D printing techniques available today and describes some of the material and processing constraints which should be considered when selecting these systems for 3D printing of biomedical parts.