Current status and future roles of additives in 3D printing—A perspective

Abstract

3D printing has evolved quickly from rapid prototyping to true mass production. This is reflected in the use of the term additive manufacturing (AM) to emphasize the use of the technology in actual manufacturing of high‐value products and finished goods. Consequentially, the requirements on the materials and processes have become more stringent and challenging to satisfy. Furthermore, various manufacturing industries have their own unique sets of requirements, and these are difficult if not impossible to satisfy with neat polymers alone. Therefore, additives are playing an increasingly critical role for satisfying material requirements for AM applications. In this article, challenges are identified that will need to be addressed as AM matures toward manufacturing applications. These include speed of production, mechanical performance and durability of the products, their interaction with the environment, and readiness for manufacturing. The use of additives to overcome these challenges is discussed in terms of current trends and with the help of specific examples. These include, but are not limited to, reinforcements, thermal stabilizers, antioxidants, and flame retardants to improve performance and meet thermal, environmental, and flammability requirements in demanding applications like aerospace, defense, and automotive. Further, colors, pigments, and dyes are needed for aesthetics. Bioactive or bioinert materials are needed for specific medical applications, and electrically dissipative or thermally conductive materials are often needed for electronics applications. This article provides a critical look at the current state of AM and how the roles of additives in AM are expected to expand, including identification of future opportunities.

A review of the fabrication methods and mechanical behavior of continuous thermoplastic polymer fiber–thermoplastic polymer matrix composites

“…Additive manufacturing (AM) is another approach for the fabrication of thermoplastic PPCs. This approach has been received much attention and widely used for the fabrication of conventional carbon‐/glass‐fiber‐reinforced polymers with desirable mechanical behavior [ 179–181 ] via different AM methods (e.g., fused deposition modeling (FDM), [ 182,183 ] the laminated object manufacturing (LOM), [ 184 ] selective laser sintering (SLS), [ 185 ] etc.). For thermoplastic PPCs, Zhang et al [ 21 ] used FDM method (Figure 6H) to print UD UHMWPE fiber‐reinforced HDPE composites.…”

Extruded polymer instability study of the polylactic acid in fused filament fabrication process: Printing speed effects on tensile strength

“…[ 14,15 ] Investigating the effect of FFF process parameters on the various properties of the final printed product has always been of interest to researchers. [ 16–23 ]…”

Effect of infill pattern on the mechanical properties of polydopamine‐coated polylactic acid orthopedic bone plates developed by fused filament fabrication

“…In the recent era, 3D printing techniques have been developed that involve slicing of parts followed by layer‐by‐layer fabrication of the entire 3D model. [ 6–9 ] It possesses the ability to fabricate parts with highly complex geometries and intricate features, [ 10 ] resulting in minimum wastage of material. [ 11–13 ] This technique is being widely used in biomedical, aerospace, construction, robotics, education, and manufacturing applications.…”