How additive manufacturing is shaping the future of manufacturing

Additive manufacturing technology, often referred to as 3D printing, has grown exponentially in recent years and has become a leader in advanced manufacturing. The biggest advantage of this technology lies in its ability to manufacture complex three-dimensional structures quickly and freely, making it widely used in new product development and single-piece small-lot production.

In this paper, we will discuss in depth the current status of equipment and application of additive manufacturing technology, analyze the development dynamics at home and abroad, and look forward to future trends and key technologies. As this technology continues to progress, we will see how it redefines the future of manufacturing and promotes both innovation and efficiency.

Overview

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology manufactures solid parts based on CAD design data by adding materials layer by layer. In contrast to traditional material removal techniques (cutting), Additive Manufacturing utilizes a “bottom-up” approach. Since the late 1980s, additive manufacturing has evolved and has been referred to as “rapid prototyping,” “layered manufacturing,” “solid free manufacturing,” and “3D printing. “3D printing technology” and so on. These names reflect the characteristics of the technology from different perspectives.

1. Definition of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing

The International Committee F42 of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has a clear definition of additive manufacturing and 3D printing. Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials layer by layer to create objects based on 3D CAD data, while 3D printing is the use of print heads, nozzles, and other technologies to deposit materials to create objects. Although 3D printing is often used to denote additive manufacturing, it refers specifically to relatively low-end devices.

2. How Additive Manufacturing Works

Broadly speaking, additive manufacturing is a method of automating the accumulation of materials such as liquids, powders, wires, or blocks to form solid structures based on design data. This technology does not require traditional tools, fixtures, and multiple machining processes, and can quickly and accurately manufacture complex shaped parts on a single piece of equipment, solving many complex structures that were difficult to manufacture in the past.

3. Advantages of additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing greatly reduces the processing procedures and shortens the processing cycle. For products with complex structures, the speed advantage of additive manufacturing is more obvious. In recent years, this technology has developed rapidly, combining different materials and processes, and more than 20 kinds of additive manufacturing equipment have appeared. Additive manufacturing has been widely used in many fields such as consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, medicine, and so on.

4. Market prospects of additive manufacturing

The characteristics of additive manufacturing make it play an important role in product innovation. Time magazine listed it as “the ten fastest-growing industries in the United States”, while The Economist magazine believes that it will promote the third industrial revolution, changing the future mode of production and life. Additive manufacturing will impact the global economy and human lifestyles by enabling everyone to become a “factory”.

According to the Wohlers Association’s 2013 report, the direct value of global additive manufacturing equipment and services amounted to $2.204 billion in 2012, an increase of 28.6% year-on-year.

The value of equipment materials was $1.003 billion, up 20.3%, while the value of services was $1.2 billion, up 36.6%. Consumer electronics and automotive sectors still dominate, but the medical and aerospace sectors are growing faster.

Currently, the U.S. accounts for 38% of the world’s ownership of additive manufacturing equipment, while China is fourth with about 9%.

International development situation

Additive manufacturing technology has made significant progress internationally after more than 20 years of development. The United States has become a leader in additive manufacturing, and 3D printing technology is widely used in food, clothing, furniture, medical, construction, and education, giving rise to many new industries.

Additive manufacturing equipment has gradually transformed from a tool for manufacturing to a tool for creation in life, allowing people to freely design and create, and promoting the vitality of social development.

1. Government Support and Strategy

Former U.S. President Barack Obama proposed the “National Network for Manufacturing Innovation” (NNMI) program in 2012, aiming to revitalize the manufacturing industry and regain leadership. He hoped to reduce the time and cost of product development, and promote “designed in the United States, made in the United States”, so that more people back to work, to this end, the government initially invested $ 30 million, and with enterprises, universities and non-profit organizations, joint research and development of additive manufacturing technology, so that the United States has become the global center of the material manufacturing.

2. Additive manufacturing market dynamics

The market for additive manufacturing equipment continued to grow in 2012, with sales figures and revenues rising, further boosting stock prices. The year saw 3D printing technology come into the public eye in a variety of ways through publications, TV programs, and movies. For example, a fashion show held by Materialise in Belgium featured fashion hats and accessories made from additive manufacturing.

3. Industry Characteristics

(1) Growth of the additive manufacturing industry

The additive manufacturing industry is experiencing a wave of mergers, mainly involving equipment suppliers and service companies. For example, ZCorp. was acquired by 3D Systems and Stratasys plans to merge with Objet. Meanwhile, Delcam acquired Fabbify Software to enhance its additive manufacturing software capabilities.

(2) New materials and equipment

Objet introduced VeroClear, an ABS-like material and transparent material. 3D Systems introduced Accura CastPro for making investment casting models. Other companies such as Kelyniam Global and Optomec have also introduced new materials and print heads for medical and electronic devices.

(3) Newmarket products are emerging

New 3D printers such as the Objet260Connex and Stratasys’ Fortus250mc have emerged with smaller footprints and multi-material printing capabilities. In addition, MakerBot launched a new model, MakerBot Replicator, which can print larger volume models, attracting more consumers.

(4) Development of new standards

In 2011, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) released a specialized Additive Manufacturing File (AMF) format that supports more information on materials and functions. This initiative will reduce duplication of effort in the industry and drive the standardization process.

Additive manufacturing technology is rapidly changing the traditional way of production and life, becoming an important strategic direction for the global manufacturing industry. As technology continues to advance and new materials, equipment, and markets emerge, additive manufacturing will play an even more critical role in the future of manufacturing.

Development of additive manufacturing technology in China

China has made remarkable progress in additive manufacturing technology since the early 1990s with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MOST) and many other departments.

Institutions such as Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Tsinghua University (TWU), and Beijing Longyuan Corporation (LYC) have carried out important research and industrialization work on forming equipment, software, and materials.

Over time, more and more universities and research institutes have been involved, including Northwestern Polytechnical University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and South China University of Technology, promoting related research and applications.

1. Progress of Industrialization

By 2000, China had initially realized the industrialization of additive manufacturing equipment, and the product level was close to international standards, breaking the early dependence on imports.

With national and local support, more than 20 service centers have been established across the country, and additive manufacturing equipment is widely used in industries such as medical, aerospace, automotive, military, mold, and electronic appliances. These efforts have significantly boosted the development of manufacturing technology in China.

2. Market Status and Challenges

Although the Chinese additive manufacturing market has developed slowly over the past five years, focusing mainly on industrial applications, the consumer goods sector has yet to form a fast-growing market. In addition, insufficient investment in R&D has caused China to lag behind the United States and Europe in terms of industrialized technology development and application.

3. International Comparison and Advantage

In the United States, additive manufacturing technology has developed rapidly in recent years, mainly due to the popularization of low-cost 3D printing equipment and the application of direct manufacturing technology for metal parts.

China has also achieved international leading research results in metal parts direct manufacturing technology, such as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Northwestern Polytechnical University to manufacture large-size metal parts, successfully applied to the development of new aircraft, significantly improving the efficiency of research and development.

4. Status of technology research and development

Although the technical level of some of China’s additive manufacturing equipment has been comparable to the international advanced level, there are still gaps in key components, materials, intelligent control, and application scope. China’s additive manufacturing is mainly used for modeling, and there is still much room for improvement in the direct manufacturing of high-performance end parts.

(1) Basic research

In terms of the basic theory of additive manufacturing and forming micro-mechanisms, China has carried out some research, but foreign research is more systematic and in-depth.

(2) Technology

Foreign additive manufacturing process technology is controlled based on theoretical foundations, while China’s R&D relies more on experience and experimental verification, resulting in the overall process level lagging behind.

(3) Material research

There is a big gap between China and foreign countries in the basic research of materials, preparation process, and industrialization, and most of the core components rely on imports.

China’s additive manufacturing technology is at a critical stage of rapid development. Despite the many challenges, by strengthening basic research, improving process level, and expanding application areas, China has the potential to occupy a more important position in the global additive manufacturing market.

Additive manufacturing technology development trend

1. Difficulties and challenges

Additive manufacturing technology represents a change in the modern production model, and future product production will shift from mass manufacturing to customization to meet the diversified needs of society.

Although the direct value of additive manufacturing was about 2.2 billion dollars in 2012, accounting for only 0.02% of the global manufacturing market, its potential impact and prospects are enormous.

Advantages of additive manufacturing include short manufacturing cycles, suitability for single-piece personalization needs, and the ability to manufacture complex parts in aerospace and medical fields.

However, additive manufacturing technologies still face many challenges relative to traditional manufacturing technologies. Currently, additive manufacturing, which is mainly applied to product development, has a high cost of use ($10 to $100 per gram), low manufacturing efficiency (e.g., gold materials are formed at a rate of 100 grams/hour to 3,000 grams/hour), and unsatisfactory accuracy.

In addition, the research and development of related processes and equipment is not yet sufficient and has not yet entered the stage of large-scale industrial application. Therefore, additive manufacturing technology currently remains a supplement to traditional high-volume manufacturing.

In order to promote its development, we need to strengthen R&D, cultivate industries, and expand applications. By establishing a collaborative innovation mechanism and actively promoting technology research and development, we can transform additive manufacturing from a product development tool to a mass production model, thus leading market development and improving people’s lives.

2. Development trend of additive manufacturing technology

(1) To the development of daily consumer goods manufacturing

3D printing has become an international development hotspot in recent years. 3D printers can output three-dimensional graphics in the computer directly into three-dimensional color objects, which are widely used in the fields of science education, industrial design, and arts and crafts. The future direction of development includes improving precision, reducing costs, and developing high-performance materials.

(2) To the functional parts manufacturing development

Additive manufacturing using laser or electronic east directly melting metal powder, layer by layer buildup to form metal parts. This technology can directly manufacture complex structures of metal parts, and its mechanical properties can be beautiful forgings. Future developments will focus on improving precision and performance, and explore ceramics. Additive manufacturing technology for composite materials.

(3) to the development of intelligent equipment

The current additive manufacturing equipment still needs to be optimized in terms of software functions and post-processing. For example, support is needed in the forming process, and the intelligence and automation level of the software urgently needs to be improved:

The matching of process parameters and materials in the manufacturing process needs to be intelligent; problems such as the removal of powder or support after the completion of processing also need to be solved. These factors directly affect the promotion of equipment, equipment intelligence is the key to the popularization of additive manufacturing.

(4) To the organization and structure of the integrated manufacturing development

Future additive manufacturing will achieve controlled manufacturing from micro-organization to macro-structure. In the case of composite materials, for example, design and manufacturing will be synchronized so as to achieve overall manufacturing on a micro-to-macro scale. This advancement will support the fabrication of biological tissues and complex structural parts, driving a revolution in manufacturing technology.

Conclusion

Additive manufacturing shows great potential for development with its unique manufacturing principles. As the range of material applications expands and manufacturing precision improves, additive manufacturing technology will revolutionize the manufacturing industry.

Vivek Wadhwa, vice president of Singularity University in the United States, published an article in the Washington Post stating that “the emergence of new technologies could lead to China facing a hollowing out in the next 20 years similar to that of the United States in the past 20 years”. He argues that digital manufacturing technologies, particularly those represented by 3D printing, will lead this change.

Wadhwa noted that while current 3D printing technology can only create relatively crude objects, with the rapid development of equipment, decreasing costs, and gradual increase in functionality, Americans will be able to accurately create 3D objects at the molecular level by the mid-2020s. He questioned how China could gain a foothold in such competition. His point reminds us that to gain an edge in future competition, we must do all we can to catch up and innovate now and never let up.