Materials processed by additive manufacturing techniques

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies offer various opportunities for manufacturing industries by fabricating parts from different materials, thereby increasing freedom of design and reducing lead time and production cost. A number of AM techniques are used to shape polymers, ceramics, metals, composites, biomaterials, and smart materials. Today shaping of biomaterials is high in demand, and various researchers are going on to fabricate biocomponents by different AM processes by keeping patient-specific needs in mind. The new capability for development in AM has appeared in the processing of smart materials and can change their dimensions and properties under the influence of certain external environments. Overall, this chapter provides an overview of various materials processed by AM techniques.