3 D Printing/Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing technologies are frequently sub-divided according to the feedstock material used in the process, with the main sub-divisions being: Powder, Filament, Liquid photopolymer. This chapter discusses Inkjet technology which is employed in powder-based processes and in liquid photopolymer processes. 3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing technology is also growing fast and expanding beyond its original use for prototyping to be the technology of choice to deliver end use products for a vast range of applications from aerospace to healthcare. The main ink, known as the build material, is composed of a thermoplastic, which forms the final product. The second ink is a wax-based support material. Inkjet has emerged as a solution to address the scalability issues associated with polymer Laser Sintering. Additive Manufacturing and also push the technology, developing new solutions to improve the ways in which we can make products.