3D Technologies

When metal parts are produced using additive manufacturing for demanding industries such as aerospace, medical, and automotive, failure is not an option, and simply having the printer complete a job is not enough. Manufacturers need to be sure there are…

Direct ink writing is one of those 3D printing technologies that has a process that can vary significantly. It’s not very commercialized, and mostly reserved for research labs. Now, a team of scientists and engineers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory…

Damp filament is a familiar problem in FDM printing. Hygroscopic materials such as PA, PETG and TPU pull water out of the air, which shows up as popping during extrusion, stringing, weak layer adhesion and inconsistent surface finish. The usual…

The concept of rheology refers to a branch of physics that studies fluids. Specifically, it examines how materials behave when they flow or deform, meaning how they respond to an applied force or stress. Although rheology applies to a wide…

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing is a powder bed fusion process that uses a laser to fuse polymer powder into solid, functional parts layer by layer. SLS 3D printing works by spreading thin layers of material, selectively sintering each…

In resin 3D printing, support structures make it possible to produce complex geometries, overhangs, and very thin features that would otherwise collapse during printing. However, they also increase material consumption, require manual removal that can leave marks on the part’s…

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a group of metal additive manufacturing methods that use a powder bed and a laser to fuse metal powder together, layer by layer, into a solid part. The best-known example is direct metal laser…

Direct ink writing (DIW) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing technique where ink is extruded through a fine nozzle that follows a digitally defined path to build a three-dimensional structure layer by layer. One of the key characteristics of this technique…

As you probably know by now, the term additive manufacturing encompasses a number of innovative technologies that enable parts to be manufactured faster and with fewer materials than subtractive manufacturing methods. However, it is not infallible. Indeed, for each printed…

Stereolithography (SLA) is a 3D printing process that uses an ultraviolet (UV) laser to cure and harden liquid photopolymer resin, building objects one thin layer at a time. It belongs to the family of technologies known as vat photopolymerization, and…

As major athletic brands continue expanding their use of additive manufacturing, the 3D-printed footwear market is shifting beyond aesthetically driven lifestyle shoes toward high-performance athletic applications. TPM3D announced that it has reached a significant milestone with the industrial-scale integration of…

FDM 3D printing, short for fused deposition modeling, is an additive manufacturing process that melts and extrudes thermoplastic filament layer by layer to build 3D objects. It is the most accessible and widely used 3D printing technology on the market…