3D printing or Additive Manufacturing?

What do you refer to the process?

3D printing or Additive Manufacturing?

I've alway referred to it as 3D Printing, but I've been hearing it referred to more and more as Additive Manufacturing lately.

So far i read about it, it seems to just be a fancy word for 3D printing.

I may be wrong tho.

We have been calling it 3D Printing since 2009?

Most of the time when it's call AM, it's got something to do with tooling.

Additive manufacturing describes a process in which material is laid down on previously laid material to build up a structure. Building a brick wall is an example of additive manufacture. So is what we call 3D printing.

Subtractive manufacturing describes a process in which material is removed from a piece of raw material. Sculpting a statue is an example of subtractive manufacturing.

I suppose we call what we do, laying down layers of material using Computer Numerical Control (CNC), 3D printing because it uses most of the technology of 2D printing (Ink Jet or Laser).

We do produce 3D objects using tools that look like printers. It could be said that the correct term is CNC 3D extruding. But 3D printing rolls off the tongue more smoothly.

Old Man Emu

FFM for Fused Filament manufacturing?

I think that 'Additive Manufacturing' sounds boring... When you tell someone that you work with 3D-Printing they are almost always interested.

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Originally Posted by MysteryAlabaster

I think that 'Additive Manufacturing' sounds boring...

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I agree with that statement. I think that "3D Printing" would suggest to a person who knew nothing of it that it is a technology that they could readily comprehend if they have already experienced printing documents with a computer controlled printer.

OME

Technically you can call it "fused filament fabrication", even more boring than additive manufacturing. Any referral to manufacturing is a misnomer in this case, it is rapid prototyping. Any real manufacturing would almost certainly be done in a different method, 3D printing is slow, not very strong, far from being economical, so manufacturing of any sizable number of parts would likely be done with injection molding, or any number of proven manufacturing methods.