An overview on 3D printing technology: Technological, materials, and applications

Abstract

Digital fabrication technology, also referred to as 3D printing or additive manufacturing, creates physical objects from a geometrical representation by successive addition of materials. 3D printing technology is a fast-emerging technology. Nowadays, 3D Printing is widely used in the world. 3D printing technology increasingly used for the mass customization, production of any types of open source designs in the field of agriculture, in healthcare, automotive industry, locomotive industry and aviation industries. 3D printing technology can print an object layer by layer deposition of material directly from a computer aided design (CAD) model. This paper presents the overview of the types of 3D printing technologies, the application of 3D printing technology and lastly, the materials used for 3D printing technology in manufacturing industry.