Additive manufacturing (AM), 3D printing, and desktop manufacturing are names given to the technology of layer-based manufacturing and its application. These terms describe new manufacturing processes from which the establishment of another industrial revolution is expected. Not only accelerated product development via fast production of complex prototypes and with improved quality can be realized, but also production of final parts, independent from the size of the lot.

3D printing is applicable in all branches of industry. Anybody engaged in engineering design and production, but also in strategic product planning, should know at least the basics of AM to perform a qualified evaluation and selection of the best applicable technology.

Suitable for the practitioner as well as students and people new to the field, this book imparts a basic knowledge of the processes and thoroughly demonstrates exemplary applications. Almost all currently available machines are presented in a systematic way that also allows the classification and evaluation of future systems. The large and fast-growing variety of different machines for additive manufacturing processes is also classified. Besides processes, also discussed are new working strategies that result from digital, mixed production, allowing a decentralized manufacture that could thoroughly change the organization of today’s production.

The book has been extensively updated from the last edition (Understanding Additive Manufacturing) to account for the recent explosion of availability of small, inexpensive 3D printers for domestic use, as well as new industrial printers for series production that have come onto the market.