Abstract: Additive manufacturing (AM) is a generic term for a number of technologies that enable fabrication of physical objects directly from CAD data sources. In contrast to classical methods of manufacturing such as milling and forging which are based on subtractive and formative principles respectively, these processes are based on additive principle for part fabrication. The biggest advantage of AM processes is that an entire 3-D (three-dimensional) consolidated assembly can be fabricated in a single setup without any tooling or human intervention; further, the part fabrication methodology is independent of the complexity of the part geometry. FDM has significant advantages in terms of elimination of expensive tooling, flexibility, and possibility of producing complex parts and shapes. The major limitation of this process is that performance of prototypes is sensitive to process parameter variation.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, CAD, FDM, dimensional accuracy, surface roughness.