Name : Mohammed Salama Mohammed

Sec : 4

About : Additive Manufacturing

Dr : Ahmed Attia
What is Additive Manufacturing?
1. What is Additive Manufacturing?

What is Additive Manufacturing (AM)?

The basic principle of Additive Manufacturing technology is that a CAD
generated 3D model is used directly to fabricate a three-dimensional object by
adding layer-upon-layer of material and fuse them together

Although initially referred to as Rapid prototyping in a product development

context, in recent years these technologies have made giant strides and moved
from prototype to production-ready part manufacturing. Term 3D Printing is
also widely used for these technologies, and it was coined by MIT for the ink jet
printing based AM they invented in the 90s. Hence these terms do not effectively
describe more recent technological advancement in the sector.

A technical committee under ASTM international finally defined these processes

appropriately as Additive Manufacturing (AM), as the technology builds 3D parts
by adding material, as compared subtractive manufacturing.
According to ISO/ASTM 52900-2015, Additive manufacturing is commonly given
to the technologies that use successive layers of material to create a three-
dimensional object. By using various techniques the printer builds the 3D
geometry by constructing a thin 2D plane layer by layer.

There are seven main categories of AM technologies viz Vat

photopolymerisation, Material Extrusion, Material Jetting, Binder
Jetting, Powder bed fusion, Direct energy deposition and Sheet lamination.

Types of Additive manufacturing

Many companies have invented and introduced new techniques and Because
the technology is fairly new, the companies who develop and introduce different
techniques come up with their own marketing terms for the process, even
though the core technique might be the same.

As per ISO/ASTM standards AM can be divided into the following seven process
categories or types according to the techniques used to create those layers.
Though companies who have developed some of the AM technologies have their
own names.
7 types of Additive manufacturing techniques
You can partially view the standards

Vat Photo Polymerization

1. Vat Photo Polymerization

What is Vat Photo Polymerization?

SLA (Stereolithography) is part of vat photo polymerization AM method where
ultra violet (UV) laser is used to cure photopolymer liquid resin and turn into
hard plastic parts. A photopolymer or light-activated resin is a polymer that
changes its properties when exposed to light, often in
the ultraviolet or visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum by causing its
molecules chains to link

In this process, a liquid photopolymer is selectively cured by light-activated

polymerization to create a 3D part. It is based on curing and hardening of
photopolymers on exposure to the ultraviolet radiation. Main types of this
technology are Stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing
(DLP) and Continuous Digital Light Processing. Only Plastic can be printed
using these technologies.

What is Binder Jetting?

 1. What is Binder Jetting?
Figure 1. Sand casting mould made using BJ for impeller (credit:voxeljet)

Binder Jetting (BJ) is one of seven Additive Manufacturing techniques in

which a binding liquid is selectively deposited to join powder material together
to form a 3D part. Among the additive manufacturing technologies that exist
today, binder jetting is unique because it does not employ heat during the
process like others to fuse the material together.

Types of Binder Jetting

It can be classified into the following groups by the binding agent it uses to
combine the material together to form the object. Binders are critical to a
successful BJ process. The type of binder used depends on the type of powder
or system that is being used, or customer application requirements.

One of the pioneers of this binder technology Exon uses the following binders
 • Furan Binder

• Silicate Binder

• Phenolic Binder

• Aqueous-Based Binder

How Binder jetting works

Figure 2. Binder jetting work flow (credit:Voxeljet)

• The powder material is spread over the build platform using a

roller

• The print head deposits the binder adhesive on top of the powder
where required

• The build platform is lowered by the model’s layer thickness

• Another layer of powder is spread over the previous layer. The

object is formed where the powder is bound to the liquid

• The unbound powder remains in position surrounding the object

• The process is repeated until the entire object has been made
Advantages and disadvantages of Binder jetting
Advantages of BJ

• Parts can be made with a range of different colours

• Uses a range of materials: metal, polymers and ceramics

• The process is generally faster than others

• The two-material method allows for many different binder-powder

combinations and various mechanical properties
Disadvantages of BJ

• Not always suitable for structural parts, due to the use of binder
material

• Additional post-processing can add significant time to the overall

process

BJ Machine manufacturers

• ExOne

• Voxeljet

Direct Energy Deposition (DED)

1. Direct Energy Deposition (DED)

What is Direct Energy Deposition?

Directed Energy Deposition (DED) is one of the 7 categories of Additive
Manufacturing processes. DED forms 3D objects by melting material as it is
being deposited using focused thermal energy such as laser, electron beam or
plasma arc. Both the energy source and the material feed nozzle are
manipulated using a gantry system or robotic arm. DED is increasingly used in
hybrid manufacturing where even the substrate bed is moved to create complex
shapes.

Figure 1. Direct energy deposition (credit:trumpf)

Although it’s possible to create parts from scratch, due to the nature of how the
DED technology works, currently its predominately used for repairing by adding
material to an existing part such as turbine blade repair.
DED was developed by Sandia National Laboratories in 1995 under the name of
LENS (Laser Engineering Net Shape) and then was commercialized by Optomec
Design Company.
Due to the variations in the energy source and final use, DED is sometimes
referred to as laser metal deposition (LMD), 3D laser cladding or direct light
fabrication.

Types of direct energy deposition

Although DED technology can be used to make metal, ceramic and polymer
parts, it is predominately used to make metal parts. DED can be classified into
the following groups by the energy source it uses to melt material.
 • Laser-based DED systems such as Optomec’s Laser Engineering
Net Shape (LENS) DED system uses laser as the main energy source

• Electron beam based DED systems such as Sciaky’s Electron Beam

Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) uses an electron beam to melt the
powdered material feedstock

• Plasma or Electric arc based DED systems such as Wire arc

additive manufacturing (WAAM) DED process uses an electric arc to
melt the wire
DED technology can also be subdivided further into the following types based on
the types of material feedstock used to create the parts.

• Powder-based DED systems such as Laser Engineered Net

shaping (LENS) or Laser metal Deposition (LMD) feed powder through
the nozzle and melted by a laser beam or electron beam

• Wire based DED systems feed wires through a nozzle and use
laser, plasma arc or electron beam to create the molten pool

How Direct energy deposition works

Different types of DED systems discussed in the previous section work
marginally different from each other. However, the core principle can be
explained using the above powder-based laser DED system.
Since the process creates a molten metal pool, the DED process typically occurs
in a hermetically sealed chamber either, filled with inert gas for laser and arc
energy source or vacuum for electron beam systems to stop metal oxidization,
especially for reactive materials like Titanium.
Figure 2. Direct energy deposition overview (credit:trumpf)
The centre of a typical DED system is the nozzle head (figure 2) which consists of
the energy source and the powder delivery nozzles which converges at the point
of deposit where the laser beam is focused. Nozzle head is mounted on either a
multi-axis CNC (Computer Numerical Control) head or an articulated arm.
Typically, the build platform is part of the multi-axis CNC system which includes
the nozzle head.

1. Using the geometric CAD information, both the nozzle head and the
build platform is moved to generate the 3D geometrical features

2. Laser beam melts the surface and creates a small molten pool of the
material on the substrate at the start point along the build path

3. The feeders feed the powder through the nozzle into this molten pool

4. Using the CAD geometric information, CNC controlled head or the bed
or both are moved along the build path to create the metal part
feature
credit:BeAM
Material suitability
Predominantly, DED uses metal in the form of either wire or powder. However,
DED technology is also capable of using polymers and ceramics. For example,
Arevo makes composite frames using polymer and filament of carbon fibre.
DED supports a wide range of metals as any metal that can be welded can be
used to create parts through this technology. Commonly used materials by
various manufacturers are as follows;

Titanium and Titanium alloys Niobium

Inconel 718, 625 Stainless Steels (300 series)

Hastelloy Aluminium alloy 2319, 4043

Tantalum Zinc alloy

Tungsten Copper-Nickel alloys

Typical direct energy deposition applications

DED is already utilised in key industries like aerospace, defence, oil & gas, as well
as the marine industry, for example, aircraft frames and structures, refractory
metal components, ballistic material tooling repair and reconditioning and
marine propulsion, etc.
DED parts(credit :Sciaky)
Like any other subtractive manufacturing process, parts made using DED can be
heat-treated, hot-isostatic-pressed, machined, or finished in any customary
manner, which opens various new applications. Most of the hybrid
manufacturing systems use DED and have increased in popularity.

Advantages and disadvantages of direct energy deposition

DED technologies are used exclusively in metal additive manufacturing due to
the nature of the process and are ideally suited for reDpairing or adding
material to existing components.

Advantages of DED

• High build rates – DED’s higher deposition rates at relatively low

resolution means faster build rate compared to some other metal
additive manufacturing process

• Dense and strong parts – DED creates higher density parts hence
their mechanical properties are as good as cast or wrought material

• Near net shape – Parts can be near net shapes requiring minimal
amount of post-processing

• Can be used for repairing – Ideally suited for application requiring

metal addition to existing parts hence lends itself for repairing
applications

• Multi-material range – Latest DED machines have the capability

to have several different powders or wire containers which enables to
build parts with custom alloy
 • Larger parts – Comparably larger parts can be built using DED. For
example, Sciaky’s EBAM printers have the capability to print parts a
few meters high

• Easy material change – Since the material is fed during the

process on demand from separate powder containers, it’s easy to refill
or change the material

• Reduced material waste – DED only deposits the material it

needs during the process meaning less wastage compared to
processes like powder bed fusion (SLS and DMLS) where, the full build
platform has to be filled with metal powder
Disadvantages of DED

• High capital cost – Direct energy deposition systems are

comparably very expensive to the other types of metal additive
manufacturing systems

• Low build resolution – Parts produced using DED technology are

lower in resolution with a poor surface finish. It will look like sand or
investment castings and would require secondary processing such as
machining or aqua blasting, hence adding more time and cost

• No support structures – Due to its nature of how the DED

technology builds parts, support structures cannot be used during the
build process, hence features like overhangs will not be possible

Material Extrusion
1. Material Extrusion

What is Material extrusion?

Material extrusion is an additive manufacturing technique which uses
continuous filament of thermoplastic or composite material to construct 3D
parts. The material in the form of plastic filament fed through an extruding
nozzle, where it heated and then deposited onto the build platform layer by
layer.
 Material Extrusion
Material extrusion is now the most popular additive manufacturing process in
terms of availability for general consumer demand and quality. As per ISO/ASTM
52900-2015, it is one of the 7 Additive manufacturing processes. You can read
the other types here.

Material extrusion technology was first developed in the 1980s by S. Scott

Crump under the registered name of fused deposition modelling (FDM). The
term fused deposition modelling (FDM) and its abbreviation FDM are
trademarked by Stratasys Inc, a company co-founded by Scott Crump.
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is another type falls under this category
developed by the members of the RepRap project which is not restricted to use
by others. You can read all about RepRap in here. This is also referred to
as Plastic Jet Printing.

Following video by Solid Concepts explicitly outlines the Material extrusion

process

Pros & Cons of Material extrusion

Advantages of Material extrusion

• Wide selection of print material

• Easily understandable printing technique

 • Easy and user-friendly method of print material change

• Low initial and running costs

• Comparable faster print time for small and thin parts

• Printing tolerance of +/- 0.1 (+/- 0.005″)

• No supervision required

• Small equipment size compared to other AM

• Comparably low-temperature process

Disadvantages of material extrusion

• Visible layer lines

• The extrusion head must continue moving, or else material bumps

up

• Supports may be required

• Poor part strength along Z-axis (perpendicular to build platform)

• Finer resolution and wider area increases print time

• Susceptible to warping and other temperature fluctuation issues

such as delamination

• Toxic print materials

Material Jetting
1. Material Jetting

What is Material Jetting?

Material Jetting (MJ) is one of the 7 types of Additive Manufacturing (AM)
technologies in which droplets of build and support materials are selectively
jetted onto the build platform and cured by either ultraviolet light or heat to
form a 3D object. The material can be either jetted continuously or only when
required i.e. on-demand to create the parts.
Figure 1. Poly jetting or material jetting ( image credit:
[Link]
The material jetting technique is very similar to common inkjet printers, where
the material droplets are selectively deposited by jetting layer by layer to create
a three-dimensional object (Figure 2). Once a layer is complete, it’s cured by
either ultraviolet light in case of photosensitive material or heat cured for metal
and ceramic parts.

Figure 2. Printing method of common material jetting process (Source

:3D hubs)
Like most of the additive manufacturing technology machines working principle,
the deposition of the material is controlled by X, Y and Z movement which
slightly varies from manufacturer to manufacturer to create the object in 3d
space.

Types of Material Jetting (MJ)

Since the inception of Material jetting technology in the 1990s, several
techniques have emerged and progressed into a developed state. Although they
differ from manufacturer to manufacturer on how the material is cured and how
they are deposited, the underpinning material jetting technique is the same.
Figure 3. Types of Material Jetting technologies
They all can be categorised under the following three main types. (Figure 2)

• PolyJet technology

• NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ)

• Drop-On Demand (DOD)

PolyJet – Material Jetting
Stratasys PolyJet technology, jets ultra-thin layers of photopolymer material
onto the build tray, very similar to a standard inkjet printer and each layer is
immediately cured by a UV light. The gel-like support material is available for
complex geometrical parts which can be easily removed by hand or by using an
aqua blast or water jetting.
Many pieces of literature refer to material Jetting technology as ‘PolyJet’, mainly
due to that fact that PolyJet is the first ever material jetting technology printer
introduced (First introduced by Object and later bought by Stratasys).

How does PolyJet material jetting technology work?

After the common steps of how additive manufacturing works, in where the 3D
CAD model is converted to layer-based information, it’s ready to be printed.

Figure 4. A simple PolyJet process (Source:3D hubs)

Schematic of a simple Material Jetting or PolyJet process is shown in figure below
to help describe the material jetting method.

• As shown in the above schematic, PolyJet printers have print

heads, build chamber, material container and UV Curing light

• Liquid resin inside the container is heated at the start to achieve

optimum viscosity suitable for jetting

• Print head jets thousands of tiny droplets of photopolymer as per

the layer information, travelling across the X-Y build platform
 • UV light cures the material deposited and solidifying it to create the
layer

• Once the layer is completed the build platform is moved

downwards to start the next layer

• This process continues until the part has finished printing

Following are some key points about the printing method.

• 14 microns layer resolution and accuracy – smooth-surfaced parts

• Thin walls and complex geometries are possible

• Wider material choices are available

• PolyJet can print rigid and flexible materials in a single build to

create over-moulded parts without tooling

• The multi-material capabilities of material jetting enables the

creation of accurate visual and haptic prototypes

NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ)

XJet’s NanoParticle jetting technology uses a unique dispersion methodology to
deposit the material onto the build platform. Special solid nanoparticles of the
build material are contained or suspended in a liquid and then are jetted onto
the build tray. Both build and support material which are suspended in liquid
form are supplied in sealed cartridges. Once the build process is complete, the
support material is removed before going through a simple sintering process.
Figure 5. NanoParticle Jetting (Source : XJet)
How does the NanoParticle jetting technology work?

1. Solid particles in a liquid suspension are loaded using sealed cartridges

into the printer.

2. Two system printheads with thousands of nozzles simultaneously jet

ultrafine drops of both build and support material onto the build tray

3. High temperature maintained inside the build area causes the liquid
jacket which surrounds the nano particle to evaporate.

4. This leaves dense ultra-fine nano particle layers of the build material.

5. Produced parts are then sintered and support material removed

Some key points about the printing method:

• Nanoparticles in ultra-thin layers produce super fine detailed

smooth surface

• High accuracy due to particle size

• Since the build and support particles are in sealed cartridges,

reduced risk to health and safety and easy to handle
 • Due to separate material support structure, easy to remove and
create complex parts with thin walls, sharp edges, etc.
DOD – Drop on demand
Drop on demand as the name implies deposits only tiny dots of material when
necessary instead of continuous lines and used typically for viscous liquid
materials. These DOD technology printers use two heads one for each build and
support material. Due to its ability to print viscous liquid, these are used
exclusively to make wax patterns for investment casting, especially jewellery
manufacturing.

Figure 5. DOD – Drop on demand Material Jetting (Source:Solidscape)

This replaces the first few steps of making the master tool in investment casting,
cutting down the overall cost.

How does Drop-on demand material jetting technology work?

• Printer consists of a build plate, two print heads, cutter head

assembly and two cartridges for build and support materials

• Wax material is loaded into the printer as powder. These melts into
liquid form inside a heated tank.

• Each layer is printed in a similar way to how generally AM

technologies work

• Each layer Is precisely milled to keep the layer thickness and

flatness

• Support material is automatically laid down, eliminating the

designers need to create support structures within the design

• The finished part would be surrounded by support material which

goes into a liquid bath

• The support completely dissolves away, leaving behind a clean,

high precision wax model
Some key points about the printing method.

• It can print both resin and wax

• This technology is specially engineered to produce mould patterns

for lost-wax casting or investment casting

• Resolution of +/-22 µm in X & Y and 25 µm for layer thickness

• Layer thickness can be controlled and repeated down to 6µm by

the rotating milling blade

• Smooth curvature printing produces the highest precision and

surface finish in the industry

• 5000 × 5000 drops per inch dropping resolution produces high

definition parts
Advantages and Disadvantages of Material Jetting
Advantages of Material Jetting

• Highly accurate parts with resolution down to 14 microns

• Due to high accurate layer resolution, it can produce smooth parts

with surfaces comparable to injection moulding and very high
dimensional accuracy

• Low wastage due to accurate jetting and material on-demand

dropping technology unlike processes like powder bed fusion where
sintering takes place inside the power chamber

• Multi-material and multi-colour capability within the same print

volume

• Material Jetting has homogeneous mechanical and thermal

properties
Disadvantages of Material Jetting

• Material jetted parts are mainly suitable for non-functional

prototypes, as they have poor mechanical properties – NPJ and DOD
produces better parts than PolyJet in terms of mechanical properties

• Mechanical properties of photosensitive material used in PolyJet,

degrade over time quickly

• Compared to some other AM technologies, MJ machines are still

expensive making it not feasible for some applications

• Produces relatively brittle parts making it difficult to use in a

production load-bearing part

• Although it’s easier to remove, most of the parts often require

support material

• High accuracy can be achieved but materials are limited and only
polymers and waxes can be used with PolyJet

Powder Bed Fusion

1. Powder Bed Fusion

What is Powder Bed Fusion?

Figure 1. Powder bed fusion ( source:GE)
Powder bed fusion is one of seven Additive Manufacturing techniques, in
which either laser, heat or electron beam is used to melt and fuse the material
together to form a three-dimensional object.

Types of Powder bed fusion

Both metal and plastic parts can be made using this technique and it can be
classified into the following four groups by the energy source it uses to melt the
material.

• Laser Fused

• Electron Beam fused

• Fused with agent and energy

• Thermally fused
Further, the Laser Fused technique can be subdivided into Selective Laser
Sintering (SLS) where only plastic parts can be printed and Direct Metal Laser
Sintering or it is sometimes called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) where, as the
name suggests print metal. (figure 2)
Figure 2. Powder bed fusion types
EBM or Electron Beam Melting comes under Electron beam fused where metal
powder is fused using electron beam under high vacuum.

HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) comes under the third category where the powder
bed is heated uniformly at the start, where a fusing agent is used to bond the
powder to create 3D geometrical parts.

Danish company Blueprinter’s Selective heat sintering (SHS) technology uses a

thermal print head for sintering thermoplastic powder to create 3D parts which
come under the fourth category, thermal powder bed fusion.

How powder bed fusion works

Schematic of a simple selective laser sintering process is shown in figure 3 below
to help describe the powder bed fusion method.
Figure 3. Schematic of Selective Laser Sintering (Gibson, Rosen, &
Stucker, 2010)
As shown in the above schematic, Powder bed fusion printers have two
chambers, Build chamber and powder chamber along with a coating roller to
move and spread the powder material across the build chamber. In some cases,
the above setup is inside a partial vacuum chamber and filled with inert gas to
protect the molten material from corroding. You can read why an inert
atmosphere is preferred and why is it important?. Also, some manufacturers
have two powder chambers on either side or same side of the build chamber
and use them as the excess overflow chamber as shown in figure 4.
 Figure 4.
Powder bed fusion build chamber (source:DMG MORI)
Both powder and build chambers can move up and down on a linear z-axis
which is perpendicular to the top horizontal plane.

Although each type of the powder bed fusion technique mentioned above varies
with the different technology it uses to create the 3D parts, each broadly follows
some common steps in the process to create the final part.

1. 3D CAD models are converted into object cross-sections and saved as

a .stl file. (Find out what’s a .stl file and other 3D printing acronyms &
abbreviations)

2. This stereolithographic file of the part or parts is loaded and placed in

the correct orientation through the printer user interface. This could
be desktop based or printer based software.

3. As the image below shows, the build area can be filled with multiple
parts to increase productivity.
 Figure 5. multiple parts loading (source:DMG MORI)

4. Powder chamber is filled with powdered build material (material in

powder form) either manually or through an automated process. This
could be via a build material cartridge or a hopper.

Figure 6. Coating roller /blade (source:DMG MORI)

5. Coating roller then deposits a thin layer of powder across the build
platform. Resolution of the parts is defined by the thickness of the
 layer. Sometimes a scrapper or a blade or a levelling roller is used after
the coating roller to ensure uniform thickness of the material top layer.

Figure 7. Powder_bed_fusion_ chambers ( source:google images)

6. Next, the energy source such as laser or electron beam is used to melt
the deposited thin top layer of the metal powder selectively as per
digital 2D cross-sectional data from the .STL file.

7. When that layer has been scanned and fused, the build platform is
incrementally lowered down by the resolution of the bed z-axis.
Simultaneously, the powder chamber is raised by the same amount.
This defines the part resolution and dictates the thickness of the
powder coating.

8. Coating roller then deposits another thin layer of powder across the
build chamber or platform on top of the fused section of a layer
thickness.
 Figure 8. Cleaning and removing excess powder (source:DMG MORI)

9. The energy source again scans and fuses the layer. This layering and
fusing process continues until the 3D object is fully built.

10. At the end of the print operation, the part will be buried inside the
powder build chamber. As shown below the powder will be removed
leaving the fused part connected to the build plate. Although the
powder bed fusion doesn’t need part support, the part still needs an
anchor point to build from, hence the part will be built onto the built
plate.
 Figure 9. Parts build_DMLS (source:DMG MORI)

11. Parts are then removed from the build plate by wire eroding or other
machining means. Hence it’s crucial that the parts are designed and
loaded in the correct most suitable orientation to avoid build errors
and reduce waste and build time

12. Depending on the size of the machine, the chambers can be either a
separate replaceable cartridge or built-in hoppers.

• Rapid prototyping

• Pillow block bearing

• Surface finish

Material suitability
The Powder bed fusion process can use any powder-based materials, but the
following materials are the most common

• Selective heat sintering – Nylon (monochrome white thermoplastic

powder)

• DMLS, SLS, SLM: Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminium, Cobalt

Chrome, Steel

• EBM: Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminium, Cobalt Chrome and

copper

Typical Characteristics and Applications

Advantages of powder bed fusion

• Low cost – Comparatively low cost. Manufacturing cost has come

down in the recent past due to the price drop in powder bed fusion
machines cost.

• No or minimum support – Mostly these do not need the use of

support structures as the powder acts as an integrated support
structure. But to get more accuracy sometimes the bottom build plate
is used as the support.

• Wide material choice – A large range of materials including

ceramics, glass, plastics, metals and alloys can be used to make 3D
objects

• Powder recycling – Powder could be recycled in some cases

although to getter better parts some time there is a need to preheat
the powder which might make the powder stick together
Disadvantages of powder bed fusion

• Relatively slow and long print time – Powder preheating,

vacuum generation, cooling off period all adds to the build time
making it one of the slowest in the additive manufacturing

• Post-processing – Printed parts need.. to be post-processed

before usage adding time and cost

• Weak structural properties – Structural properties of these aren’t

good compared to other manufacturing processes due to the layer
based manufacturing.

• Surface texture – Since the parts are made fusing metal powder
together, surface quality depends on the grain size of the powder and
would be very similar to manufacturing processes like sand casting, die
casting etc

• Support build plate – Although technically it does not need

supports, to avoid any issues such as warping due to residual stress
support may have to be provided. Also, most of the printers use a
build plate to build the parts .. hence needs post removal and post-
processing. This can be reduced by designing with that in mind.

• Powder recycling – The powder is expensive but even more

expensive is throwing out residual partially melted or unused powder.
To speed up the print process, the powder is often preheated. This
 means that some powder is affected by the heat despite not being in
the final part.

• Thermal distortion – Another problem, mainly for polymer parts,

is thermal distortion. This can cause shrinking and warping of
fabricated parts.

• High power usage – Uses a lot of energy to create parts

Sheet Lamination
1. Sheet Lamination

What is Sheet Lamination?

Sheet lamination is one of the 7 types of additive manufacturing processes
defined by ISO/ASTM 52900-2015 and is the process of building a 3D object by
stacking and laminating thin sheets of material. The lamination method can be
bonding, ultrasonic welding or brazing while the final shape is achieved either by
laser cutting or CNC machining.
Figure 1. Carbon fibre sheet laminated parts
Out of all the 7 types of AM technologies, sheet lamination produces parts with
the least additive resolution. However, its low cost and faster manufacturing
time allow product designers to make low fidelity prototypes from standard
easily available low-cost material.

Types of Sheet Lamination

Sheet lamination can be subdivided into groups based on build
material used, such as paper, plastic, metal or woven fibre composites
or forming methods employed, such as CNC milling, laser cutting or aqua
blasting. They can also be categorised further based on the lamination
technique used to bond the sheets together, such as adhesive bonding, thermal
bonding and ultrasonic welding. There are also variations in when they are
formed. In some cases, they are formed and then bonded like Computer-Aided
Manufacturing of Laminated Engineering Materials (CAM-LEM) process or they
are bonded and formed like Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) process.

Form then Bond process – Sheet material is cut to shape first and then bonded
to the base or previous layer to create a 3D geometry

Bond then Form Process – In this process as the name suggests sheet material
layers are bonded together before cutting them into the desired shape

Considering all the above variations, sheet lamination can be categorised into
the following 7 types;

• Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)

• Selective Lamination Composite Object Manufacturing (SLCOM)

• Plastic Sheet Lamination (PSL)

• Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Laminated Engineering

Materials (CAM-LEM)

• Selective Deposition Lamination (SDL)

• Composite Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM)

• Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM)

How Sheet Lamination works

Every type of sheet lamination works marginally different from each other,
although the main principle is the same. A schematic overview is shown in figure
2 of the original laminated object manufacturing which was the first
commercialised additive manufacturing technique in 1991.
Figure 2. Sheet lamination overview (Additive manufacturing technologies)
The initial part creation and setting up is the same for all the 7 types of additive
manufacturing technologies and can be shown in 7 steps of how additive
manufacturing works: 3D model creation, STL file creation, STL file transfer,
Machine set up, Build, Part removal & post-processing.

First, a thin sheet of material is fed from the roller or placed onto the build
platform. Depending on the type of sheet lamination, the next layer may or may
not be bonded to the previous sheet. SDL and UAM bond the layers together
and then cut the 3D shape at the end, while CAM-LEM cuts the layers into shape
and then bonds the layers together. This process is continued until it completes
all the layers to achieve the full height. Then the print block is removed, and all
the unwanted outer edges are removed to reveal the printed 3D object.

In sheet lamination, the layer thickness is the same as the thickness of thin
sheets of material and dictates the final quality. Layer thickness also depends on
the machine and process used.

Material suitability
Although sheet lamination can use a wide variety of materials, such as paper,
polymer, ceramic and metal, each material uses different binding methods. The
most common sheet lamination material is paper with pre-applied adhesive
where heat and pressure are used to activate the adhesive layer.

Figure 3. CBAM sheet lamination parts ( image credit: Impossible Objects)

Polymers use heat and pressure without the adhesive as it relies on melting the
sheets together. Metal sheets are bound using ultrasonic welding, while
materials such as fibre-based material and ceramic use thermal energy in the
form of oven baking to combine the layers together.

Process Material options

LOM Papers

PSL Most polymers

 Carbon Fibre, Fiberglass, Aramid Fibre (i.e. Kevlar), PBO (i.e. Zylon), along with
SLCOM
metal fibres like steel, aluminium or titanium

Alumina Other ceramics available for use in our processes include zirconia, zirconia-
CAM-LEM
toughened alumina (ZTA), silica, and a variety of oxide and non-oxide ceramics.

SDL Standard paper

Long-fibre fabrics bonded with thermoplastic matrix materials. Carbon fibre

CBAM
combined with either Nylon12, PEEK and glass fibre with Nylon 12 and PEEK

A wide range of material combinations can be printed as any material that can be
UAM welded in a single part opening the design space to enable property gradients and
engineered material properties for increased performance

Typical application
Different types of sheet lamination techniques are used for different purposes
and they are directly tied to the individual process. Paper-based techniques such
as LOM and SDL are used for full-colour prints while metal-based sheet
lamination is used in hybrid manufacturing.

Figure 4. Hand model printed using SDL ( image credit Mcor ltd)
SLCOM can be used to make production quality composite fibre parts while the
CAM-LEM process can be used to make ceramic parts.

Advantages and disadvantages of sheet lamination

Advantages of sheet lamination

• Faster print time, but post-processing will be required

• Ability to integrate as hybrid manufacturing systems

• Ease of material handling

• Ceramic (CAM-LEM) and composite fibre (SLCOM) parts can be

manufactured

• OEM components, such as sensors, wires, etc., can be embedded

into the part during the layering stage. Highly depends on the sheet
lamination technique and material used

• Relatively low cost as it uses standard material

• No support structures necessary

• Larger working area than most of the current AM technology

equipment

• Full-colour prints – LOM/SDL can print in the whole colour

spectrum

• In some sheet lamination techniques, the material state does not

change during or after the process

• Multi-material layers possible (UAM)

• In some cases, cut material can be easily recycled – This could also
be a disadvantage if the part is smaller compared to the sheet or the
bed size
Disadvantages of sheet lamination

• Layer height cannot be changed without changing the sheet

thickness hence part resolution is linked to sheet thickness along the
vertical build axis

• Finishes can vary depending on paper or plastic material but may

require post-processing to achieve the desired effect
• Limited material options available

• It can be time-consuming and difficult to remove the excess

material after the laminating phase and it generates a lot of waste
compared to other AM methods

• Hollow parts (internal voids and cavities) are difficult to produce in

some types of sheet lamination processes, such as “bond then form”

• Bonding strength will depend on the laminating technique used

and, in some cases, adhesive bonds are not good enough for long
term use of the product strength and integrity

• Material waste can also be high if the part being made is smaller
than the build area or the sheet size