It's not necessarily the most accurate name for the process. And just like there are various types of printers — inkjet, laserjet, matrix, turbo, etc. — there are various methods of 3D printing and a handful of materials that can be used. Some printers use lasers and dust, others use glue and dust and some even melt down plastic.
3-D printing is making it easier and faster to produce complex objects with multiple moving parts and intricate design, and soon it will be affordable enough to have at home.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is the family of manufacturing technology that includes 3-D printing. AM is the means of creating an object by adding material to the object layer by layer. AM is the current terminology established by ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials). Throughout its history, additive manufacturing in general has gone by various names: stereolithography, 3-D layering and 3-D printing.
You can see some of the basic principles behind AM in caves; over thousands of years, dripping water creates layers and layers of mineral deposits, which accumulate to form stalagmites and stalactites. Unlike these natural formations, though, 3-D printing is much faster and follows a predetermined plan provided by computer software. The computer directs the 3-D printer to add each new layer as a precise cross-section of the final object.
Additive manufacturing and 3-D printing specifically, continues to grow. Technology that started out as a way to build fast prototypes is now a means of creating products for the medical, dental, aerospace and automotive industries. 3-D printing is also crossing over into toy and furniture manufacturing, art and fashion.
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