Additive Manufacturing: Current State, Future Potential, Gaps and Needs, and Recommendations

Additive manufacturing (AM), the process of joining materials to make objects from three-dimensional (3D) model data, usually layer by layer, is distinctly a different form and has many advantages over traditional manufacturing processes. Commonly known as “3D printing,” AM provides a cost-effective and time-efficient way to produce low-volume, customized products with complicated geometries and advanced material properties and functionality. As a result of the 2013 National Science Foundation (NSF) Workshop on Frontiers of Additive Manufacturing Research and Education, this paper summarizes AM's current state, future potential, gaps and needs, as well as recommendations for technology and research,…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Defense
• UO
  University of Florida
• DA
  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
• UO
  University of California, Irvine