The implications of additive layer manufacturing, or 3D printing, are only just being understood. It will change the way we make things — and change the things we make. Stuart Nathan reports
As the technologies behind additive layer manufacturing, now becoming better known as 3D printing, develop, so too does the hype behind the process. While its potential to change manufacturing is undoubted, the implications of this are not well understood; and while engineers around the world are excited by the process, they are also finding that it its as likely to change what is made as it is to change the way we make things.
The technique’s ability to use different materials from conventional manufacturing processes, and assemble them layer by layer into an intricate design derived digitally is driving it towards niche products which haven’t existed before — and that, it seems, might be the true strength of the technique.
