Table 5.

Advantages and disadvantages of the AM machines for production of metallic parts used by the studied companies.

AM System	Advantages	Disadvantages	References
EOSINT M 280 Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)	Moderate production rate High accuracy and details (layer thickness 20–40 µm) Fully dense parts after heat treatments Good static mechanical properties Finer grain size Produces pars with medium surface roughness that improves biological performance Requires heat treatments Metals: AlSi10Mg, Cobalt-Chrome MP1, Cobalt-Chrome SP2, Maraging-Steel MS1, Nickel Alloy HX, Nickel Alloy IN625, Nickel Alloy IN718, Stainless Steel 17-4PH, Stainless Steel CX, Stainless Steel GP1, Stainless Steel 316L, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-4V ELI, TiCP grade 2, and Tungsten W1 Low maintenance time	High energy consumption Long building cycles Need of building supports, which are difficult to remove Grainy surface Difficult part cleaning Parts require heat treatment to release internal stresses Needs high quality powder spec, only supplied by machine brand	[1,4,63,66,76,77,87,88]
Arcam Q10plus EBM	High production rates Good accuracy (layer thickness 50–70 µm) Easy nesting of parts Produces pars with a high surface roughness that improves biological performance Fully dense parts Lower residual stresses than DMLS Easy removal of support structures (manually) No heat treatments required Metals: cobalt chromium alloy (CrCo ASTM F75), Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-4V ELI, TiCP grade 2, and nickel alloy 718 Compliance with ASTMF136 standards High maintenance time	High maintenance time Only conductive materials Rough surface Needs high quality powder spec Needs high quality powder spec, only supplied by machine brand	[77,80,87,89]
Company C in-house developed AM system	Ultra-fast production rate (mass production) Cuts up to 80% in production costs compared to other AM systems Low energy consumption Machine cost is two orders of magnitude lower Complies with metal injection molding standards Metals: Stainless steel Use of standard metal injection molding (MIM) powder material	Only one material is available Parts require heat treatment