Chapter 1

Introduction and Basic Principles

Abstract The technology described in this book was originally referred to as Rapid
Prototyping. The term Rapid Prototyping (or RP) is used to describe a process for
rapidly creating a system or part representation before final release or commercial-
ization. The emphasis is on creating something quickly for use as a prototype or
basis model from which further models and eventually the final product will be
derived. In product development, the term Rapid Prototyping describes technolo-
gies which create physical prototypes. This text is about technologies which can
directly produce objects from digital data. These technologies were first developed
for prototyping but are now used for many more purposes.

1.1 What Is Additive Manufacturing?

Additive Manufacturing is the formalized term for what used to be called Rapid
Prototyping and what is popularly called 3D Printing. The term Rapid Prototyping
(or RP) is used in a variety of industries to describe a process for rapidly creating a
system or part representation before final release or commercialization. In other
words, the emphasis is on creating something quickly, and that the output is a pro-
totype or basis model from which further models and eventually the final product
will be derived. Management consultants and software engineers both also use the
term Rapid Prototyping to describe a process of developing business and software
solutions in a piecewise fashion that allows clients and other stakeholders to test
ideas and provide feedback during the development process. In a product develop-
ment context, the term Rapid Prototyping was used widely to describe technologies
which created physical prototypes directly from digital model data. This text is
about these latter technologies, first developed for prototyping but now used for
many more purposes.
Users of RP technology have come to realize that this term is inadequate and in
particular does not effectively describe more recent applications of the technology.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

Improvements in the quality of the output from these machines have meant that
there is often a much closer link to the final product. Many parts are in fact now
directly manufactured in these machines, so it is not possible for us to label them as
“prototypes.” The term Rapid Prototyping also overlooks the basic principle of
these technologies in that they all fabricate parts using an additive approach. A
Technical Committee within ASTM International agreed that new terminology
should be adopted. As a result, ASTM consensus standards now use the term
Additive Manufacturing [1] as do most standards bodies worldwide.
Referred to in short as AM, the basic principle of this technology is that a model,
initially generated using a three-dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD)
system, can be fabricated directly without the need for process planning. Although
this is not in reality as simple as it first sounds, AM technology significantly simpli-
fies the process of producing complex 3D objects directly from CAD data. Other
manufacturing processes require a careful and detailed analysis of the part geometry
to determine things like the order in which different features can be fabricated, what
tools and processes must be used, and what additional fixtures may be required to
complete the part. In contrast, AM needs only some basic dimensional details and a
small amount of understanding as to how the AM machine works and the materials
that are used to build the part.
The key to how AM works is that parts are made by adding material in layers;
each layer is a thin cross-section of the part derived from the original CAD data.
Obviously in the physical world, each layer must have a finite thickness to it, and so
the resulting part will be an approximation of the original data, as illustrated by
Fig. 1.1. The thinner each layer is, the closer the final part will be to the original. All
commercialized AM machines to date use a layer-based approach, and the major
ways that they differ are in the materials that can be used, how the layers are created,

Fig. 1.1 CAD image of a teacup with further images showing the effects of building using differ-
ent layer thicknesses
1.3 The Generic AM Process 3

and how the layers are bonded to each other. Such differences will determine factors
like the accuracy of the final part plus its material properties and mechanical proper-
ties. They will also determine factors like how quickly the part can be made, how
much post-processing is required, the size of the AM machine used, and the overall
cost of the machine and process.
This chapter will introduce the basic concepts of Additive Manufacturing and
describe a generic AM process from design to application. It will go on to discuss
the implications of AM on design and manufacturing and attempt to help in under-
standing how it has changed the entire product development process. Since AM is
an increasingly important tool for product development, the chapter ends with a
discussion of some related tools in the product development process.

1.2 What Are AM Parts Used For?

Throughout this book you will find a wide variety of applications for AM. You will
also realize that the number of applications is increasing as the processes develop and
improve. Initially, AM was used specifically to create visualization models for prod-
ucts as they were being developed. It is widely known that models can be much more
helpful than drawings or renderings in fully understanding the intent of the designer
when presenting the conceptual design. While drawings are quicker and easier to cre-
ate, models are nearly always required in the end to fully validate the design.
Following this initial purpose of simple model making, AM technology has
developed over time as materials, accuracy, and the overall quality of the output
improved. Models were quickly employed to supply information about what is
known as the “3 Fs” of Form, Fit, and Function. The initial models were used to
help fully appreciate the shape and general purpose of a design (Form). Improved
accuracy in the process meant that components were capable of being built to the
tolerances required for assembly purposes (Fit). Improved material properties meant
that parts could be properly handled so that they could be assessed according to how
they would eventually work (Function).
To say that AM technology is only useful for making models, though, would be
inaccurate and undervaluing the technology. AM, when used in conjunction with
other technologies to form process chains, can be used to significantly shorten product
development times and costs. More recently, some of these technologies have been
developed to the extent that the output is suitable for end use. This explains why the
terminology has essentially evolved from Rapid Prototyping to Additive Manufacturing.

1.3 The Generic AM Process

AM involves a number of steps that move from the virtual CAD description to the
physical resultant part. Different products will involve AM in different ways and to
different degrees. Small, relatively simple products may only make use of AM for