Table 1.
Advantages and disadvantages of various 3D printing technologies.
| Type | Technology | Materials | Advantages | Disadvantages | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polymer printing | Stereolithography (SLA) [118,119] | UV-curable resins and photopolymers | High level of detail, smooth finish, and tight tolerances | Slow and can be brittle | 30 to 140 microns |
| Digital Light Processing (DLP) [118,119] | UV-curable resins and photopolymers | High level of detail, smooth finish, and tight tolerances | Fast, suitable for low-volume production, and can be brittle | 35 to 100 microns | |
| Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) [107,120,121] | Nylon-based polymer powders and ceramics | Strong parts and no support structure required | Rough surface finish and slow | 80 microns | |
| Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF) [122,123] | Polymer powders | Strength and fast speed | Rough surface | 1200 dpi and 22 microns | |
| PolyJet [124,125] | Multiple materials | Multiple materials in one print, and colorful prints | Mediocre rigidity | 14 microns | |
| Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) [119,125] | Multiple polymers with additives | Cost effective, quick, simple, cheap, and many materials | Rough surface finish, slow, and mediocre precision | 10 microns vertical; 100 microns horizontal | |
| Metal printing | Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) [126,127] | Alloy powders | Strong; dense parts | Often requires post processing via sintering and normalizing in a furnace; expensive; rough surface | 40 microns |
| Electron Beam Melting (EBM) [128,129] | Metal powders | Very strong parts, high speed, energy efficiency, and low distortion | Very expensive | 50 microns | |
| Selective Metal Melting (SLM) [130,131] | Metal powders | Very strong parts; usage of single-component metals | Often requires postprocessing via normalizing in a furnace; expensive | 30 microns | |
| Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) [121,130] | Alumide (aluminum plus polyamide) | Strong parts; no support structure required | Rough surface finish; slow | 80 microns | |
| Bioimplant production | Bioprinting [132,133,134,135] | Gels containing living cells and collagen, gelatin, hyaluronan, etc. | Can produce element or complete organs | Young technology | 100 microns |
| Construction 3D printing | Extruding [136,137,138] | Concrete, clay, and soil | Rapid construction of buildings in various shapes, requiring less labor and resulting in less construction waste | Very expensive, large, and complex machines | 6000 microns |