Design challenges and opportunities of 3D printing

Abstract

In the future, the number and complexity of products made using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques will increase rapidly. The development of softwares and algorithms related to processes will eliminate extra intermediate steps between the product design and the end product, and will finally give us more intelligent way to manufacture these new products. More efficient 3D printing processes will enable the production of cheaper individual items and, furthermore, they will increase the demand for these high - quality tailored unrivalled solutions. The market potential is huge. However, at present the fundamentals of the area are only lightly studied and several key challenges concerning structural behavior and performance have to be solved before these techniques can be used in a widespread, cost - effective manner. Success in this task creates a basis for mathematical modeling and design, which will considerably accelerate the development time cycle of consumer products. With new computational methods becoming even more sophisticated and faster, the repeatability and reliability of the product design process will improve, enabling further production quality advances in the manufacturing industry. 3D printing assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become one of the major components of concept of ’Industry 4.0’ approaching independently operating and even self - contained systems.