Additive Manufacturing Forum

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Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

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Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Additive manufacturing (AM)

Building a part layer by layer from a digital model instead of removing material from a billet or moulding it. At an industrial AM show the term usually means metal or high-performance polymer processes intended for functional parts, not desktop hobby printing.

2

Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM)

Design rules that exploit AM rather than imitate conventional machining - topology optimisation, conformal cooling channels, part consolidation and support-aware orientation. DfAM decisions drive whether a part is economic to print, so it is a recurring theme in AM Forum conference tracks.

3

PBF-LB/M (laser beam powder bed fusion, metal)

A metal AM process in which a laser melts successive thin layers of metal powder in a build chamber. Common feedstock materials include stainless steels, aluminium alloys, titanium, nickel superalloys and copper alloys.

4

PBF-EB (electron beam powder bed fusion)

Powder bed fusion using an electron beam in a vacuum chamber, typically run hot and used for titanium and other reactive alloys where residual stress control matters.

5

Binder jetting

A process that deposits a liquid binder into a powder bed to form a green part, which is then cured and sintered. Attractive for larger batches and for materials that are difficult to weld, but shrinkage and sintering control are the qualification challenge.

6

Material extrusion / FFF

Extruding molten or semi-molten polymer filament through a nozzle. In industrial settings it covers jigs, fixtures, tooling and high-temperature engineering polymers rather than only visual prototypes.

7

VAT photopolymerisation (SLA, DLP)

Curing liquid photopolymer resin layer by layer with a laser or projected light. Used for fine-detail parts, investment casting patterns, medical and dental models, and some production components.

8

Feedstock and powder characteristics

Particle size distribution, sphericity, flowability, oxygen content and reuse limits of metal powder or filament. Powder reuse policy directly affects part cost and mechanical property consistency, so it is a standard procurement question at AM trade events.

9

Post-processing (HIP, heat treatment, surface finishing)

The steps after the build: stress relief, hot isostatic pressing to close porosity, support removal, machining of interfaces and surface finishing. Post-processing is often 30-60 percent of total part cost and is a frequent bottleneck when scaling from prototypes to series.

10

Qualification and certification

The evidence package proving a process and part meet a standard or customer specification - typically material allowables, machine qualification, in-process monitoring records and non-destructive testing. Aerospace, medical and automotive buyers treat this as the gate to production orders.

11

Digital thread and AM MES

The connected record of design data, build files, machine parameters, powder lot and inspection results across a part's life. Buyers use it to trace serial production parts and to satisfy audit requirements.

12

Build chamber and build volume

The usable print envelope of a machine (for example 250 x 250 x 300 mm). It determines how many parts fit per build, nesting strategy and whether a business case closes for a given component size.

13

Series production versus prototyping

The shift from one-off demonstration parts to repeatable volumes with defined cost, cycle time and quality metrics. Many conversations at AM Forum concern the exact point where AM becomes cheaper or technically superior to casting, forging or machining.