Additive Manufacturing Technology Development: A Trajectory Towards Industrial Revolution

Abstract

With the recent advancement in complexity of various technological products and the need for faster production, the quest for inventing new manufacturing technologies to reduce the design limitations such as the costs involved in purchasing and maintaining machines, the need for a trained operator, and increase in waste produced during machining in conventional manufacturing methods, has received significant boost in recent time with the advent of additive technology (AM) or 3D printing within various experts in industry, research & development institutes and universities, which invariably has not only enhanced deliverable on time and on budget of products, as well as ability to fabricate complex geometry with high precision and weight reduction. Several types of additive manufacturing (AM) that use different technologies and materials have emerged, in which the 3D systems are used to produce objects through adding rather than subtracting materials, transforming essentially detailed design files to fully functional products, to directly or indirectly alleviate the burden associated with convectional manufacturing and assembly methods. In this paper, an extensive review has been done on several methods adopted in 3D printing. Example include: Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Continuous Filament Fabrication (CFF), Stereolithography (SLA), Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing (ADAM) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM). The various steps involve in operation and working principle of 3D printing technology was also stated. The paper also presents the applicable areas of 3-D printing focusing on tooling, aviation/aerospace, medical/biomechanical and city planning.