The short answer Both sinter nylon powder without supports. MJF fuses a whole layer with an infrared lamp and printed agents, SLS traces it with a laser. That makes MJF faster in batches, isotropic to 85 to 90 percent of XY strength, accurate to ±0.2 mm and smoother; SLS offers a wider material range and larger build envelopes. Same physics, different heat source Both processes are powder bed ...

The short answer Every process needs its own mandatory step: support removal on FDM and SLA, powder removal on SLS and MJF, solvent wash and UV cure on resin. Beyond that, bead blasting, vapour smoothing, dyeing, epoxy sealing, annealing, inserts, machining and plating are chosen to match the part's job. Two buckets: mandatory and chosen Post-processing is quoted badly because it is quoted as ...

The short answer At room temperature, as-built SLM parts land close to wrought: SLM 316L prints at about 570 MPa tensile against 485 to 515 MPa for annealed wrought bar, and SLM Ti6Al4V reaches about 1,200 MPa against roughly 950 MPa wrought. Yield strength is often higher and elongation lower. Fatigue is the gap: as-built surfaces sit at Ra 6.3 to 12.5 micrometres. The comparison, alloy by al...

The short answer For plastic prototypes, sintered nylon beats everything else: SLS or MJF PA12 prints at roughly 45 to 50 MPa tensile with 15 to 20 percent elongation and near-isotropic strength, while FDM parts carry only 50 to 75 percent of their strength across layers. For metal prototypes, SLM is the strongest route, matching wrought values. The ranking, on one scale Strength is not a prop...

The short answer SLA cures liquid resin with ultraviolet light and holds the finest detail, down to 25 micron layers and Ra 1 to 5 micrometres. SLS sinters nylon powder with no supports, giving the strongest and most near-isotropic parts. FDM extrudes filament and is the cheapest, with 100 to 300 micron layers and visible layer lines. Three processes, three mechanisms The three names are abbre...

The short answer Print when the question is shape, and machine when the question is performance. 3D printing delivers a first article in one to three days for USD 50 to 500, holding about ±0.1 to 0.3 mm. CNC holds ±0.01 to 0.05 mm in production material but takes three to seven days and costs USD 80 to 2,000. The rule: shape versus performance Almost every prototype decision reduces to one que...

The short answer Seven additive families exist, but five carry almost all professional prototype work: material extrusion, vat photopolymerisation, polymer and metal powder bed fusion, and jetting. They differ by how material is deposited, by the accuracy each holds - roughly ±0.05 mm at best, about ±1 mm at worst - and by what the finished part can do. Seven families, five that matter Additiv...

The short answer SLA and SLS are the two leading resin-and-powder additive processes. SLA cures liquid photopolymer with ultraviolet light, one thin layer at a time, and holds the finest detail, down to 25 micron layers. SLS sinters nylon powder with a laser and needs no supports, so it produces the strongest, most near-isotropic plastic parts. SLA: liquid resin cured by light SLA stands for s...

The short answer 3D printing is used because it turns a design into a physical part in hours without tooling, so iteration is cheap and the geometry is unconstrained. It pays off under a few hundred parts, for designs still moving and for shapes machining cannot reach; above that, moulding or machining wins. Six reasons a part gets printed, and the figure behind each Nobody prints a part becau...

The short answer 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, builds a part by adding material one thin layer at a time from a digital model instead of cutting it out of a block. Layers run about 20 to 300 micrometres, the part is finished in hours, and the bond between layers is its weakest plane. From a digital model to a solid part: four stages The word printing is misleading, because nothing is...