Additive Manufacturing of Metals and Alloys

Metal additive manufacturing or metal 3D printing is a type of additive manufacturing that uses a heat source – such as a laser or electron beam – to heat metal in powder or wire form so that it consolidates to form an object.

VAT Photopolymerisation. Vat polymerisation uses a vat of liquid photopolymer resin, out of which the model is constructed layer by layer. ...

• Material Jetting. ...
• Binder Jetting. ...
• Material Extrusion. ...
• Powder Bed Fusion. ...
• Sheet Lamination. ...
• Directed Energy Deposition.

In most cases, alloys are mixed from commercially pure elements. Mixing is relatively easy in the liquid state but slow and difficult in the solid state, so that most alloys are made by melting the base metal—for instance, iron, aluminum, or copper—and then adding the alloying agents.