Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference 2019

LPBF ( laser based power bed fusion ) has seen tremendous growth over the past years, powered by the transition from prototyping without design limits to industrial production of high performance parts and the current trend to digital manufacturing. Jetting technologies are joining the growing market of additive manufacturing with the target of higher productivity and MIM-like part properties. The paper is highlighting the specifics, strengths and limitations of these 2 technology families as well as suitable applications. Consideration is given to part properties for specific alloys, material and design sweet spots as well as the respective manufacturing eco systems. The author is summarizing why these technologies will rarely compete for the same application but rather complement each other and will further accelerate the industrial use of additive manufacturing.