26 Mar 2014
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Research article
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Materials & Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing: An Introductory Overview (2 of 4)
Sylvie Doré
Sylvie Doré is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at ÉTS. Her research interests include additive manufacturing design methodologies, orthopaedic biomechanics and Engineering Education.
Program :
Mechanical Engineering
Header image from Creative Tools, CC licence. Source. It shows a 3D Systems – ZPrinter 850 3D printer.
This second article continues the first one published recently and provides an introductory overview of additive manufacturing technologies.
As mentioned in the first article, ASTM F2792-12a Standard Terminology for Additive Manufacturing Technologies divides the different technologies into seven categories. In this second article, we look at the first two of the seven categories defined in ASTM F-2792-12a:
Categories 3 and 4 (yellow type) will be presented in the third part of this article and categories 5 to 7 (grey type) in the fourth part. For each category, you’ll find a short explanation of the principle, the class of materials used, the names of the main companies selling the machines and what they call the process. The categories are listed in alphabetical order by their French equivalents.
1. Directed Energy Deposition
In this process, concentrated thermal energy (from a laser, electron beam, plasma arc, etc.) is used to melt a material as it is being deposited, usually by a nozzle. Materials are generally metal filaments or powders.
Main Companies and Processes
– LENS (Laser Engineering Net Shaping)
Website
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(formerly Precision Optical Manufacturing (POM) – DMD (Direct Metal Deposition)
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EBW (Electron Beam Welding)
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(France) – CLAD (Construction Laser Additive Direct)
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2. Material Extrusion
Process by which material is distributed selectively through a nozzle or orifice. This technology is also the object of open-source development. Materials are wax and thermoplastic filaments.
Main Companies and Processes
FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling; Mojo, uPrint, Dimension and Fortus models)
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(Designjet models – under license from Stratasys)
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Cube models
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3D-Bioplotter Model
Website
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While it leaves room for improvement, this classification has the advantage of clarifying which types of machines share similar technologies. Let’s hope that it makes communication easier among stakeholders.
Sylvie Doré
Sylvie Doré is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at ÉTS. Her research interests include additive manufacturing design methodologies, orthopaedic biomechanics and Engineering Education.
Program : Mechanical Engineering
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