Metal Additive Manufacturing history - Ampower Metal AM Market Report

Invention of Additive Manufacturing

First commercialization of AM in the late 80s

First experimental set-ups and early machine concept developments in Additive Manufacturing go back to the 60s and 70s of the 20^th century. However, the first commercial systems have only been available since the late 80s. Generally, Charles Hull is credited with the invention of the first commercialized AM technology Stereolithography (SLA) and was granted the first patent in Additive Manufacturing. Following the commercialization of SLA, DTM CORP. introduced their first Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) system in 1992. Both technologies use laser radiation to solidify polymer feedstock and are still used today in prototyping applications. Advanced development stages regarding material and machine technology of SLA and SLS are today also used in production of many polymer end use parts.

BJT and DED technologies stood in the shadow of PBF for nearly two decades

One of the ancestors of modern LB-PBF was the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) technology introduced in 1994 by system manufacturer EOS. EOS was already producing SLS machines, when they adapted their machine technology to print metal parts from two component metal powders in a liquid phase sintering process. The process allows a one-step AM production by melting the low melting matrix material (often copper or bronze) around the steel particles. In the late 90s first developments with high energy fiber lasers were conducted to melt one component metal alloys directly in the AM process. In 1999 FOCKELE & SCHWARZE introduced the first Selective Laser Melting system. Quickly CONCEPT LASER, EOS and in 2003 TRUMPF followed with their own systems using laser energy to directly melt metal alloys. All of the early adopters of this principle are still existing as machine manufacturers today, although some have been re-branded or bought. Only TRUMPF discontinued its engagement in PBF from 2006 to 2014 due to limited market size and prospects in machine sales. Additionally to the Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion developments, Swedish company ARCAM developed their Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion technology and introduced 2002 the first commercial system.

Parallel to the PBF activities in Europe, mainly Germany, USA based company EXTRUDE HONE introduced the first sinter-based metal AM system in 1999. The technology was adopted from Binder Jetting using a metal powder, which in a subsequent sinter process was densified to a metal part. Metal BJT stood in the shadow of PBF technologies for nearly 20 years until HP and DESKTOP METAL announced their commitment to enter the AM market.

Direct Energy Deposition technologies have been used in coating applications for many decades. One of the first dedicated AM systems was sold by OPTOMEC in 1998 using Powder Feed Laser Energy Deposition technology. Systems from conventional machine manufacturers such as TRUMPF and DMG followed over the next two decades. In recent years smaller turn-key solutions using Powder Laser Deposition were introduced into the market by e.g. BEAM, COHERENT or LUNOVO. In 2007 NORSK TITANIUM entered the market as an early adopter of the conventional plasma arc welding process for AM machine technology. Due to the use of titanium wire the major application focus is in aircraft and space applications. Targeting the same focus application of large-scale titanium blanks, SCIAKY introduced its Wire Electron Beam Deposition system in 2014.

PBF at the brink of serial production across industries

In 2013 patents from Fused Deposition Modeling, a polymer-based AM technology, expired and low cost FDM printers were pushing into the consumer market. Following this, news coverage of Additive Manufacturing increased significantly and portraited it as the ultimate future in manufacturing. Stock prices of publicly traded AM companies skyrocketed and especially LB-PBF systems were sold to many curious industrial users and R&D departments. Over the next 5 years LB-PBF system supplier achieved continuous increase in system sales as many adopted the technology. First industrial mover was the medical device industry using EB- and LB-PBF systems to manufacture dental crowns, hip cups and spinal cages in serial production environments.

In the beginning of 2015, the first hype ended and stock prices of traded AM companies declined significantly. However, system sales in metal PBF systems stayed strong as more industries, such as aviation, energy and gas & oil were adopting the technology. Towards the end of this decade many industrial PBF applications are in the phase of qualification and increasing amounts of serial production are expected from 2020 onwards.

In 2016, DESKTOP METAL and HP entered the market and introduced their metal BJT technology. A second hype was created on the promise of significant increase in productivity in comparison to PBF. In 2019, first systems have been installed at beta customers. The real impact of metal BJT on traditional manufacturing has yet to be determined. Especially the complex debinding and sintering processes, based on traditional manufacturing routes, will hinder a fast adoption and limit the possibilities in design and application.

Even with PBF at the brink of serial production across various industries and BJT in the starting blocks, the revolution of future manufacturing to make traditional manufacturing superfluous is still a long time coming.

Invention of Additive Manufacturing

First commercialization of AM in the late 80s

Development of metal AM systems

BJT and DED technologies stood in the shadow of PBF for nearly two decades

Hype and industrialization

PBF at the brink of serial production across industries

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Polymer Additive Manufacturing Market

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