A Brief Review of the Applications of Selected Thermal Analysis Methods to 3D Printing

Abstract

The last few years have been characterized by the development of 3D printing technology; in parallel, many analytical techniques have been proposed for this new technology to favor its development and commercialization. In this short review, I verify how thermal analysis, which I have always dealt with, can help this technology. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is not a novel technology; however, considering the variety of possibility it offers to printing, as well as the fact that, in the first decade of this century, companies designed their printer machines to print with a limited selection of materials, the potential of this technology is still very large. At this stage, both industry and academy need more information to better develop 3D printing technology, and thermal analysis can absolutely help them to reach this goal.