Additive manufacturing: Challenges, trends, and applications

Additive manufacturing is a recent trend in production processes owing to its many benefits. It can be defined as the process of producing parts through the deposition of material in a layer-by-layer fashion. It has been a topic of intense study and review by many researchers. In this work, a comprehensive review pertaining to additive manufacturing has been accomplished. The evolution of additive manufacturing as a prominent technology and its various phases are discussed. The importance of part orientation, build time estimation, and cost computation has also been reviewed. The remarkable aspect of this work is the identification of problems associated with different additive manufacturing methods. Because of the imperfections in additive manufacturing, its hybridization with other methods, such as subtractive manufacturing, has been emphasized. This review will help readers understand the different aspects of additive manufacturing and explore new avenues for future research.