Comparison of five metal additive manufacturing technologies
| Metal additive manufacturing technology | SLM | EBSM | LSF | EBFF | WAAM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output heat source | Laser | Electron beam | Laser | Electron beam | Electric arc | |
| Material form | Powder | Powder | Powder | Fuse | Fuse | |
| Working environment | Inert gas | Vacuum | Inert gas | Vacuum | Atmospheric environment | |
| Technical feature | Part dimension | Middle and small scale | Middle and small scale | Large and middle scale | Large scale | Ultra-large scale |
| Sophistication | Extremely complex | Extremely complex | Complex | Complex | Complex | |
| Surface quality | Excellent | Good | General | Bad | Terrible | |
| subsequent process | No processing | No processing | Light processing | Light processing | Much processing | |
| Manufacturing efficiency | Low | Middle | High | Higher | Highest | |
| molding precision | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Middle | Bad | |
| Special mold | None | None | None | None | None | |
| Processing materials | Titanium alloy, superalloy, copper, aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, hard alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, as well as Cu-Su, W-Ni, Ni-Al and Nh-Ti-Si intermetallic compound materials and some gradient materials | |||||
| Metal additive manufacturing technology | SLM | EBSM | LSF | EBFF | WAAM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output heat source | Laser | Electron beam | Laser | Electron beam | Electric arc | |
| Material form | Powder | Powder | Powder | Fuse | Fuse | |
| Working environment | Inert gas | Vacuum | Inert gas | Vacuum | Atmospheric environment | |
| Technical feature | Part dimension | Middle and small scale | Middle and small scale | Large and middle scale | Large scale | Ultra-large scale |
| Sophistication | Extremely complex | Extremely complex | Complex | Complex | Complex | |
| Surface quality | Excellent | Good | General | Bad | Terrible | |
| subsequent process | No processing | No processing | Light processing | Light processing | Much processing | |
| Manufacturing efficiency | Low | Middle | High | Higher | Highest | |
| molding precision | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Middle | Bad | |
| Special mold | None | None | None | None | None | |
| Processing materials | Titanium alloy, superalloy, copper, aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, hard alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, as well as Cu-Su, W-Ni, Ni-Al and Nh-Ti-Si intermetallic compound materials and some gradient materials | |||||
Source(s): Table courtesy of Du et al. (2022)
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