Proceedings of AEPR 12, 17th European Forum on Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Paris, France, 12-14 June 2012 RECENT TRENDS IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Terry Wohlers Wohlers Associates wohlersassociates.com ABSTRACT This paper provides a sampling of the information published in Wohlers Report 2012, a 287-page worldwide industry study. The publication provides a global review and analysis of the technologies and applications of additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing. The ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies defines AM as the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies. KEYWORDS Additive manufacturing, 3D printing, 3D printers, personal 3D printers, industry growth, ASTM International Committee F42
Recent Trends in Additive Manufacturing 1. INTRODUCTION After more than two decades of research, development, and use, the industry continues to expand with the introduction of new technologies, methods, materials, applications, and business models. Meanwhile, a growing number of industrial sectors and geographic regions are embracing the use of AM. It has had a tremendous impact on design and manufacturing, and this impact will continue to grow in the future. Additive manufacturing is having a significant impact on the way some companies manufacture products. These organizations some very small are successfully applying the technology to the production of finished goods. Wohlers Associates believes that this practice will grow to become the largest and most significant application of AM technology. It could very well have a greater breadth of impact on manufacturing than any other technology in recent history even when taking all conventional methods into account. 2. INDUSTRY GROWTH The market for additive manufacturing, consisting of all products and services worldwide, grew 29.4% to $1.714 billion in 2011. This is up from $1.325 billion in 2010 when it grew 24.1%. It declined 9.8% in 2009, largely due to the Great Recession. The AM industry has grown in the double digits for 15 of its 24 years. Unit sales of professional-grade, industrial systems were relatively soft in 2011, compared to very strong unit sales in 2010. However, revenues from system sales were exceptionally strong. The average selling price of these systems increased substantially, which accounts for this difference. Meanwhile, the industry experienced staggering growth in low-cost personal 3D printers. These are products that typically sell for about $1,000 to $2,000 and are available as a kit or assembled machine. The majority originated from the RepRap open-source machine development at Bath University in the UK. Professional-grade, industrial additive manufacturing systems are those that are established in industry and sell for more than $5,000. Sales of these systems grew by an estimated 5.4% to 6,494 units, excluding personal systems. This compares to an estimated 6,164 systems sold in 2010 (also excluding personal systems), which resulted in impressive growth of 37.4%.
Proceedings of AEPR 12, 17th European Forum on Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Paris, France, 12-14 June 2012 Personal 3D printer unit sales grew 289% in 2011, with an astonishing 23,265 units believed to have been placed. However, personal 3D printers represent just $26.1 million of the total market for AM systems sales in 2011. If the personal systems category continues to grow at its current pace, it will quickly become an interesting market segment for system developers and investors. 3. AM AROUND THE WORLD An estimated 26.3% of all industrial AM systems installed worldwide are in the Asia/Pacific region. Meanwhile, 29.1% are in Europe and 40.2% are in North America. The remaining 4.4% are in Central America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. The following chart shows the cumulative distribution of industrial AM systems in the Asia/Pacific region through the end of 2011. As you can see, the majority of the systems are in Japan and China. The Other segment includes Brunei, Indonesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. Source: Wohlers Report 2012 Asia s adoption of AM for modeling and prototyping applications has caught up to the rest of the world, for the most part. However, far fewer organizations in this region are applying AM to the production of parts for final products. Most machines are bought by product development companies to assist in accelerating the labor-intensive early stages of product development. Australia has seen an increase in the level of awareness of additive manufacturing, which is expected to lead to more experimentation and adoption of the technology. Information on AM has been broadcast on the country s television
Recent Trends in Additive Manufacturing and radio stations, and a number of high profile workshops, seminars, and other events have taken place to promote AM. South Africans are proud of their innovative, application-based research, along with the healthy growth in the number of AM machine installations. The number of AM installations in South Africa has grown every year since 1995, and reached 450 machines in January 2012, according to professor Deon de Beer of Vaal University of Technology. Thirteen companies in Europe now manufacture and sell AM systems. Particularly interesting is the hotbed of development and commercialization of metal-based AM equipment. The European companies that produce these machines are Arcam, EOS, Concept Laser, Irepa Laser, Phenix Systems, ReaLizer, Renishaw, and SLM Solutions. Far more metal AM parts are being produced on these systems than on machines manufactured elsewhere in the world, including the U.S. 4. AM PROCESS TERMINOLOGY Many processes are available for additive manufacturing. For a newcomer to the field, or an inexperienced company wanting to purchase parts, the range of possibilities can be overwhelming. In an attempt to differentiate themselves from their competitors, AM system manufacturers have created unique process names. This has contributed to the confusion, as many of the different systems essentially employ similar processes and share very similar materials. Clearly, a system to categorize all the AM processes and materials is not only desirable, but necessary to bring organization to the myriad of choices. In January 2012, ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies voted on a list of AM process category names and definitions. The committee approved the work, titled Standard Terminology for Additive Manufacturing Technologies. The system of process categorization is presented in the following list. Inevitably, new processes will be invented that do not fit nicely into this system of categorization, and the standard will be revised as necessary to accommodate these new technologies. The ASTM-approved AM process terms are listed in the following, with the precise wording of their definitions: Material extrusion an additive manufacturing process in which material is selectively dispensed through a nozzle or orifice
Proceedings of AEPR 12, 17th European Forum on Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Paris, France, 12-14 June 2012 Material jetting an additive manufacturing process in which droplets of build material are selectively deposited Binder jetting an additive manufacturing process in which a liquid bonding agent is selectively deposited to join powder materials Sheet lamination an additive manufacturing process in which sheets of material are bonded to form an object Vat photopolymerization an additive manufacturing process in which liquid photopolymer in a vat is selectively cured by light-activated polymerization Powder bed fusion an additive manufacturing process in which thermal energy selectively fuses regions of a powder bed Directed energy deposition an additive manufacturing process in which focused thermal energy is used to fuse materials by melting as the material is being deposited. 5. DIRECT PART PRODUCTION The use of AM for the direct production of parts that end up in final products continues to grow, as shown in the following graph. In just nine years, it has gone from virtually nothing to 24% of the total product and service revenues from additive manufacturing. Source: Wohlers Report 2012 6. TRENDS AND THE FUTURE Many trends in additive manufacturing have come into focus over the past 12 18 months. Among them are advances in metals, the availability of new design
Recent Trends in Additive Manufacturing tools, the expiration of key patents, and potentially explosive growth in the launching of new businesses related to additive manufacturing. Recent trends are impacting the current research, development, use, education, and strategies associated with AM technology. These trends, coupled with recent growth estimates, provide a sense of where the industry is headed and how organizations and individuals might contribute to the future of the technology. The additive manufacturing industry is experiencing many exciting developments. New systems, materials, and applications will develop as researchers, users, and people of all ages push into the unknown. When the semiconductor industry emerged in the 1960s, we did not know exactly where it would go, but many knew it would become very big. The same is true with additive manufacturing. It will find its way into unexpected places that launch entirely new industries. 7. CONCLUSIONS Additive manufacturing is having a significant impact on the way some companies manufacture products. These organizations some very small are successfully applying the technology to the production of finished goods. Wohlers Associates believes that this practice will grow to become the most significant application of AM technology. In the future, many organizations will use AM to manufacture a wide range of custom and limited edition products. Companies will also use AM for short-run and series production in part quantities ranging from one to thousands. After more than two decades of research, development, and use, the industry continues to expand with the introduction of new technologies, methods, materials, applications, and business models. Meanwhile, a growing number of industrial sectors and geographic regions are embracing the use of AM. It has had a tremendous impact on design and manufacturing, and this impact will continue to grow for many years to come.