A review on additive manufacturing techniques and process parameter optimization methods

Additive manufacturing (AM) has brought about a revolution in all fields of engineering, including biomedical engineering. It has drastically transformed the way in which conventional manufacturing worked. It enables rapid prototyping, unprecedented freedom in design and mass customization. It opens the pathway of sustainable manufacturing by substantially reducing waste (up to 90% in some metal AM), lowering energy usage and CO2 emissions as compared to conventional manufacturing. This technology has unparallelly created its space in creating complex, high-performing, lightweight and intricate components with minimal material waste. This paper showcases the various techniques of additive manufacturing used in recent times. It explains the classification and detailed workflow of the manufacturing processes. The classification is dependent upon the physical state of the raw material like liquid, solid, and powder based. These systematic comparison gives a clarity about the appropriate techniques and methodologies to be used based on the material type, resolution, strength, and applications. Such classifications help in appropriate process selection and standardization. Apart from that, this paper uniquely explains the various process optimization techniques like ANOVA, RSM, ANN, and GA, which are extremely beneficial in enhancing the performance of the manufacturing process. These techniques take care of various quality metrices helping the manufacturers in reducing unnecessary trial and error experimentation. These optimization methods would help in identifying the important process parameters essential for process standardization. Hence, in addition to outlining the various manufacturing processes, this paper specifically highlights the importance of the various optimization techniques that aid in the analysis and identification of critical parameters. Such optimization technique supports standardization and accelerates innovation.