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When I started working in additive manufacturing three years ago, I thought 3-D printing of metals would be easy because I had worked with 3-D printed plastics for nearly two [...]

The first class that I ever taught at Penn State University was the senior capstone design course in which students work on real-world design problems. During the course, students worked [...]

Recent advances in material processing capabilities have renewed interest in material jetting, the additive process that allows 3D objects to be built by placing different combinations of material drop-by-drop. Of [...]

Material extrusion was invented and patented by Scott Crump in 1989 and introduced to the market as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) by Stratasys, the company Mr. Crump co-founded. Given FDM's [...]

ASTM/ISO standards define seven basic additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Let's begin by looking at vat photopolymerization. This process was introduced to the market in the late 1980s by 3D Systems [...]

According to the American Foundry Society, metal castings can be found in 90% of all durable goods, and you are seldom more than 10 feet away from a casting. I [...]

Last month I discussed the concept of hybrid manufacturing--combining additive manufacturing (AM) and subtractive machining together within a single machine to make parts more efficiently. This month, I want to [...]

For the past several months, I have focused on directed energy deposition (DED) processes for additive manufacturing (AM), lauding the speed with which it can additively manufacture parts layer by [...]

This system has the benefits of cheaper cost and easier handling. But there can be some drawbacks as well. In my previous two columns, we have been talking about the [...]

Directed energy deposition (DED) is similar to powder-bed fusion (PBF) because it uses a laser (or electron) beam to melt powder. Yet, the way in which powder feedstock is deposited [...]

Designers spend countless hours perfecting the curves and contours of 3D models in CAD for both aesthetic and functional reasons. Unfortunately, if you have ever 3D printed anything, you know [...]

Good designers and engineers know how to design for manufacturing. Using their experience and guidelines for the various processes, they can design parts that are easy and cost-effective to machine, [...]

In the last two columns, we've explored two 'speed plays' enabled by additive manufacturing (AM): direct part replacement and functional prototyping. In both cases, we also saw the related challenges [...]

So are you ready to take the plunge into additive manufacturing and start making complex, lightweight parts with incredible strength-to-weight ratios, or consolidated assemblies that minimize part count and provide [...]

Are you excited about additive manufacturing yet? Hopefully, my first few columns have given you both a preview of what Is possible and a reality check on what can happen [...]

We begin this month's column with that simple question: Why are holes circular? Is it because creating them that way makes for the most efficient use of material? Is it [...]

AM is more complicated than the hype implies. It needs creative people to advance its adoption in this industry. We have all read the hype: You can 3D-print anything you [...]