2023-07-18 15:51:38
Although prototyping is still the number 1 application, 21% of Hubs 3D Printing Report 2023 participants used 3D printing for the production of finished parts last year. It is striking that 20% of the production runs involved series between 101 and 1,000 parts. In 5% of the cases, more than 1,000 parts were involved.
This is one of the conclusions of the research by Hubs among users of the platform, now part of the American Protolabs. By 2022, it will have printed more than a million parts for customers of the platform. Three-quarters of the companies printed series of more than 10 pieces; a year earlier this figure was still 49%. 83% of the participants say that they have saved costs with 3D printing.
Numbers per production run are increasing
Less robust growth than expected
AM market growth has been less robust than predicted a year earlier, according to the trend report. Hubs expected the market to grow to $18.3 billion by 2021; the counter has stalled at $17 billion. It is expected to grow to $19.9 billion by 2023. This gives Hubs a growth rate of 17% on an annual basis. The aviation industry is the main user of additive manufacturing. Automotive and the medical industry are in second and third place. A quarter has an average production run of 1 to 10 parts, 27% from 11 to 50 parts and 24% prints between 51 and 100 parts at a time.
FDM remains the most popular printing technique
If you look at the AM techniques, FDM is still at the top with 56% followed by SLA (20%) and SLS (10%). Multijet Fusion is in fourth place with 8.8% of participants saying they use this technique the most. Although 3D metal printing is growing rapidly, it is still lagging behind in the overall market: only 1.7% of the participants say that laser powderbed fusion is the most used technology and for 0.7% that is EBM.
Major impact expected from 4D printing
However, there is potential in all industries, say the compilers of the trend report. The food industry, fashion, motorsport, healthcare and aerospace are identified in the report as the growth drivers for the coming years. For the latter two sectors, 4D printing in particular is a promising technology, he believes Hubs. In this case, the 4e dimension, time, added. Under the influence of external influences such as temperature or humidity, the materials can take on a different shape. According to the compilers of the trend report, 4D printing is still in its infancy, but its impact on various industries will be significant.
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