Comprehensive Review on Additive Manufacturing of Plastic and Composite Parts for Aerospace by Powder Bed Fusion

Weight reduction and high mechanical performance are the main driving objectives in aerospace vehicle design. In this context, material selection and components manufacturing play a crucial role in achieving these goals while ensuring cost effectiveness. The use of additive manufacturing, and particularly powder bed fusion (PBF) processes, has expanded the range of lightweight materials that can be processed and enabled the fabrication of complex geometries. Traditionally, metal powders are used for aerospace purposes, but recent advances in printing high-performance polymers and their composites have pushed the implementation of PBF processes in the aerospace sector. The relationship between material behaviors, processing parameters, defect formation, and final mechanical part behavior has been investigated in this work. Additionally, a focus on smart manufacturing, including artificial intelligence-driven design and digital twin frameworks, has been provided to show the next frontiers of PBF. Despite the growing interest in manufacturing polymers and polymer composites via PBF for aerospace applications, the available scientific literature remains quite limited compared with that for other additive manufacturing techniques. However, the number of publications has increased significantly in recent years, confirming the importance of this manufacturing technology from an industrial perspective.