Polymer based additive manufacturing historical developments, process types and material considerations.

Abstract

3D printing is a manufacturing technique where parts are built in a layer-by-layer fashion. The earliest embodiments were based on generating successive layers of solidified materials at the air liquid interface through exposure with actinic radiation and the lowering of the growing object into a vat of photo-active material. One of the earliest concepts was by Otto Munz in 1956 where he describes “photo-glyph recording”. However, many today consider Charles Hull the father of 3D printing as it was his patent that coined the term “stereolithography”, and was the first to commercialize a 3D printing apparatus.