3D Printing Technologies - A Review

Recently, a great interest in 3D printing has emerged, although many existing 3D printing technologies were first developed 2-3 decades ago. There are many mature 3D printing processes and materials; however, active research and development efforts are ongoing in this area to advance the technologies. Several companies have already started to use 3D printed parts as actual components. Many low-cost 3D printers have been released on the market, which are of particular interest to educators and hobbyists. This paper provides a brief review of 3D printing technologies and research trends. In addition, several state-of-the-art technologies and applications are introduced.