ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AS A DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY: IMPLICATIONS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING

Additive manufacturing (AM), or three-dimensional (3D) printing as it is often referenced, offers a new paradigm for engineering design and manufacturing that could have significant economic, geopolitical, environmental, intellectual property, and security implications. Although AM has existed at various levels of sophistication for decades, it has only recently caught the attention of policy and economics experts. In particular, the ability to print metal objects (e.g., titanium alloys) holds special promises. As a technology that offers the potential to print almost any physical 3D object at will, AM is already having effects on our economy. How far AM progresses remains to be seen, but more dialogue around its implications is needed. Here, we describe the state of the art of AM, implications of AM to our society at large, risks due to counterfeiting of 3D printed objects, and research into future AM capabilities and applications.