Additive manufacturing (AM), 3D printing, desktop manufacturing, and some others are identical terms for the technology of layer-based manufacturing and its application.
The different terms describe these new manufacturing processes, from which the establishment of another industrial revolution is expected. They are suitable for acceleration of product development by production of complex prototypes quickly and with improved quality. But they also allow production of final parts, independent from the size of the lot.
Thus, they indeed mark a revolution in manufacturing techniques: the change from a production technology for the manufacture of large series of identical parts to a mixed series production of different parts, even down to one-of-a-kind parts.
3D printing is applicable in all branches of industry. Anybody engaged in engineering design and production, but also in strategic product planning, should know at least the basics of AM in order to perform a qualified evaluation and selection of the best applicable technology.
This book, 3D Printing, is a new edition of Understanding Additive Manufacturing, which was originally published in 2011. It has been extensively updated and expanded to reflect the major new developments in the field that have taken place since then.
Suitable for the practitioner, this book imparts a basic knowledge of the processes and thoroughly demonstrates exemplary applications. Almost all currently available machines are presented in a systematic way that also allows the classification and evaluation of future systems. The large and fast-growing variety of different machines for additive manufacturing processes is also classified.
Besides processes, also discussed are new working strategies that result from the digital, mixed production, allowing a decentralized manufacture that could thoroughly change the organization of today’s production.

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