I research additive manufacturing, which some people call solid free-form fabrication, but most people know as 3D printing. Additive manufacturing covers a wide range of processes that we can use to build parts and whole structures by strategically adding material only where we need it.

Building parts by adding material a bit at a time allows us to build geometries and features that we never could using traditional processes such as cutting, forging, or casting. For instance, with 3D printing we can make complex, ultra-lightweight parts by building their internal structures using the least material possible. We can build these parts complete with winding internal passages for fluids to flow, and we can make them out of different materials depending on the properties we need them to have, such as rigidity, or flexibility or the ability to conduct electricity or heat.

Image 1: The author at work. (Photo credit: F. Webber/NIST)

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