), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.Cover design: The Cover Artwork is Courtesy of Bathsheba Grossman and Bathsheba Sculpture LLC Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) PrefaceThank you for taking the time to read this book on Additive Manufacturing (AM). We hope you benefit from the time and effort it has taken putting it together and that you think it was a worthwhile undertaking. It all started as a discussion at a conference in Portugal when we realized that we were putting together books with similar aims and objectives. Since we are friends as well as colleagues, it seemed sensible that we join forces rather than compete; sharing the load and playing to each others' strengths undoubtedly means a better all-round effort and result.We wrote this book because we have all been working in the field of AM for many years. Although none of us like to be called "old," we do seem to have decades of experience, collectively, and have each established reputations as educators and researchers in this field. We have each seen the technologies described in this book take shape and develop into serious commercial tools, with tens of thousands of users and many millions of parts being made by AM machines each year. AM is now being incorporated into curricula in many schools, polytechnics and universities around the world. More and more students are becoming aware of these technologies and yet, as we see it, there is no single text adequate for such curricula. We hope that now, with this book, there is.Additive Manufacturing is defined by a range of technologies that are capable of translating virtual solid model data into physical models in a quick and easy process. The data is broken down into a series of 2D cross-sections of a finite thickness. These cross-sections are fed into AM machines so that they can be combined, adding them together in a layer-by-layer sequence to form the physical part. The geometry of the part is therefore clearly reproduced in the AM machine without having to adjust for manufacturing processes, like attention to tooling, undercuts, draft angles or other features. We can say therefore that the AM machine is a What You See Is What You Build (WYSIWYB) process that is particularly valuable the more complex the geometry is. This basic principle drives nearly all AM machines, with variations in each technology in terms of the techniques used for creating layers and in bonding them together. Further variations include speed, v layer thickness, range of materials, accuracy,...

The past few decades have seen substantial growth in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. However, this growth has mainly been process-driven. The evolution of engineering design to take advantage of the possibilities afforded by AM and to manage the constraints associated with the technology has lagged behind. This paper presents the major opportunities, constraints, and economic considerations for Design for Additive Manufacturing. It explores issues related to design and redesign for direct and indirect AM production. It also highlights key industrial applications, outlines future challenges, and identifies promising directions for research and the exploitation of AM's full potential in industry.Design, Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing

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Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is a term that describes the usage of additive manufacturing technologies for production or manufacturing of end-use components. Although it may seem that DDM is a natural extension of rapid prototyping, in practice this is not usually the case. Many additional considerations and requirements come into play for production manufacturing that are not important for prototyping. In this chapter, we explore these considerations through an examination of several DDM examples, distinctions between prototyping and production, and advantages of additive manufacturing for custom and low-volume production.Many times, DDM applications have taken advantage of the geometric complexity capabilities of AM technologies to produce parts with customized geometries. In these instances, DDM is not a replacement for mass production applications, as customized geometry cannot be mass produced using traditional manufacturing technologies. In addition, since the economics of AM technologies do not enable economically competitive high-volume production for most geometries and applications, DDM is often most economical for low-volume production applications. Two major individual-specific medical applications of DDM will be discussed, from Align Technology and Siemens/ Phonak, as well as several other applications that make use of the unique design freedom afforded by AM techniques. This will be followed by a discussion of the unique characteristics of AM technologies that lead to DDM.

This paper is a personalised view by the editors of the Rapid Prototyping Journal. It collects their years of experience in a series of observations and experiences that can be considered as a snapshot of where this technology is today. Furthermore, it attempts to predict how the future of Additive Manufacturing will look from the perspective of 3 key elements; applications, materials and design.

As part of a manufacturing system, rapid prototyping (RP) should be integrated with other manufacturing technologies. To ensure that this integration is successful and intelligent, it is necessary to understand and incorporate the properties of RP components. Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an important RP method because of its wide range of materials which can be used. The properties of different SLS powders influence the fabrication parameters in the process and these fabrication parameters in turn affect the mechanical properties of the resultant component. SLS components generally require post‐processing which can also affect the mechanical properties. To obtain optimum quality output, knowledge of the effects of sintering and post‐processing must be incorporated into design and process planning.