Introduction to 3D Printing and Manufacturing

Learn 3D Printing technology, also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM), refers to processes used to generate a 3D object in which layers of material are successively formed under a computer controlled program to create a physical object. The 3D file source is usually sliced into several layers, each layer generating a set of computer controlled instructions. Both 3D printing and additive manufacturing reflect that the technologies share the theme of sequential-layer material addition or joining throughout a 3D work. 3D printing technologies can be split up into 2 groups: direct and indirect 3D printing. The main difference lies in the fact that the design is directly made from 3D printing (direct) or 3D printing was used in the process of creating your model (indirect).