Additive manufacturing has emerged from 'trough of disillusionment,' says expert

Additive manufacturing technology was over-hyped, but has emerged from the “trough of disillusionment” and is playing an increasingly important role in manufacturing, according to an expert.

Chris Tuck, a member of the Additive Manufacturing Centre at the University of Nottingham, told Professional Engineering that the technology had been gradually increasing in use over the last five years and was now at the level of “self-sustainability”.

“It’s gone through the hype curve, it’s moving out of the ‘trough of disillusionment’ from the ridiculous hype that we had almost exactly five years ago,” he said.

Tuck said that companies were having more sensible discussions about where additive manufacturing should be used, and realising that it couldn’t be used for everything.

When the technology was first developing, some analysts predicted a world where people would own their own 3D printers and create products at home, but Tuck thinks that idea is far-fetched. “3D printing is a very specific thing that isn’t manufacturing,” he said.

“You have to think about the things that have transitioned from factories to the home,” Tuck added. He gave the example of photo-quality home printing, which was popular several years ago but is hardly used because of the expense and variable quality.

“This is not simple stuff,” he added, stressing that the majority of additive manufacturing required multiple machines and finishing processes.

Nottingham’s large additive manufacturing department is working on developing printers that can combine different materials, and on creating metrology techniques that can assess the smoothness and accuracy of finished structures.