Oriented toward the practitioner, this book presents a clear overview of additive manufacturing, going from the basics to the properties and special aspects of industrially available machines. From the generation of data to the forming method, the complete process chain is shown in a practical light. In particular, the following additive manufacturing technologies are discussed extensively:

• Polymerization (e.g., stereolithography)
• Sintering and melting (e.g., laser sintering)
• Layer laminate method (e.g., laminated object manufacturing, LOM)
• Extrusion (e.g., fused deposition modeling, FDM)
• 3D printing

Applications for the production of models and prototypes (rapid prototyping), tools, tool inserts, and forms (rapid tooling) as well as end products (rapid manufacturing) are covered in detailed chapters with examples. Questions of efficiency are discussed from a strategic point of view and also from an operational perspective.

This book supports product developers and people responsible for production who face the challenges of implementing additive manufacturing not just for prototypes or one-off parts but for its increasingly important application in direct production of finished products. The method not only reduces the demands on industrial infrastructure but also opens up new perspectives in terms of decentralized production and customer inclusive individualized production (customization, cyberproduction).