3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that creates a physical model by aligning material layer by layer sequentially from a 3D design file. There are many types of 3D printing technology (All3DP, 2020), like Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Masked Stereolithography (MSLA), Stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Material Jetting (MJ), Selective Laser Melting (SLM), Electron Beam Melting (EBM), etc. Each of the technologies has their own unique applications and advantages.

3D printer has been widely used in different industries for many types of application from commercial to industrial. It has been a well-known equipment among people’s life. There are many daily commercial products t...[ Read more ]

3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM), is a manufacturing process that creates a physical model by aligning material layer by layer sequentially from a 3D design file. There are many types of 3D printing technology (All3DP, 2020), like Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Masked Stereolithography (MSLA), Stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Material Jetting (MJ), Selective Laser Melting (SLM), Electron Beam Melting (EBM), etc. Each of the technologies has their own unique applications and advantages.

3D printer has been widely used in different industries for many types of application from commercial to industrial. It has been a well-known equipment among people’s life. There are many daily commercial products that use 3D printing technology to manufacture, for example customized shoes, cups, animate figures, toys, etc. Aerospace & Defense industries also use 3D printing to produce some of the parts (Artley, 2019), like Jigs and Fixtures, Surrogates, Mounting brackets, etc. I believe 3D printing will play an important role in manufacturing when the technology becomes more advanced and adaptable.

5-Axis 3D Printing technology which is one type of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) that has been a new research direction among different research institutes. It solves many pain points in the existing 3D printing industry which opens infinity opportunities in all kinds of application.

In this thesis, it contains business and technology parts which introduce how the 5-Axis 3D printer idea was being developed and implemented from academia to commercial world. Moreover, the future development plan will be discussed in different aspects.