Matthijs Langelaar I Structural Optimization and Mechanics Group, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Cesar A. Terrazas W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Yirong Lin W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Ryan B. Wicker W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Mohammad S. Hossain W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Simon Ewald Digital Additive Production, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Maximilian Voshage Digital Additive Production, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Steffen Hermsen Digital Additive Production, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Max Schaukellis Digital Additive Production, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Patrick Köhnen Steel Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Christian Haase Steel Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum Digital Additive Production, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany And Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Aachen, Germany
Hayden Taylor Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Hossein Heidari Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Chi Chung Li Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Joseph Toombs Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Sui Man Luk Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Poul Norby Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Lukas Fieber Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Patrick S. Grant Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Marcel Di Vece Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department “Aldo Pontremoli”, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Lourens van Dijk Soluxa B.V., Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Ruud E.I. Schropp Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Belville, South Africa
A. Hornés Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
A. Pesce Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
L. Hernández-Afonso Department of Chemistry, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
A. Morata, Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
M. Torrell Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
Albert Tarancón Department of Advanced Materials for Energy, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain and Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
S. Linnenbrink Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany
M. Alkhayat Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany
N. Pirch Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany
A. Gasser Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany and Chair for Laser Technology (LLT), Aachen, Germany
H. Schleifenbaum Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany and Digital Additive Production (DAP), Aachen, Germany
Fredrick Kim School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
Seungjun Choo School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
Jae Sung Son School of Materials Science and Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea
Jason E. Bara University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Introduction to 3D Printing Technologies
Albert Tarancón1,2, Kyriakos Didilis3, and Vincenzo Esposito3
1 Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
2 Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
3 Technical University of Denmark, Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Fysikvej, Lyngby, Denmark
3D printing is considered one of the technologies that will change the world in the next future. The capability of producing series of free‐shape customized objects using almost all relevant families of materials (plastics, metals, and ceramics) is considered a revolution in the field of manufacturing, especially because it can be done even by individuals. The low investment required for simple 3D printers and the open availability of design files make this technology an entire change in the way of understanding product fabrication and prototyping.
At a first stage, 3D printing was mainly developed for structural parts made of plastics but, nowadays, the technology evolved into a complete additive manufacturing chain, covering design, simulation, optimization, fabrication and rapid prototyping of functional objects as well as complete devices made of metals and ceramics. This evolution represents an enormous competitive advantage since the fabrication of high value‐added products such as devices and functional parts will open the use of this technology to the vast majority of application scenarios and industrial sectors, including the energy field.
Moreover, a real deployment of 3D printing of functional materials will benefit in promoting a circular economy by preventing the loss of valuable materials and reducing the energy
