Major Trends in Global 3D Printing Materials Market

The global 3D printing materials market was valued USD 1.94 billion in 2021 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 20.39% over the forecast period from 2021 to 2030, as per a market study by Quince Market Insights. Manufacturing companies are keen to shorten development cycles to create and execute new ideas with speed and agility as a result of competitive challenges and changing business models. 3D printing has proven to be a substantial cost and time saving option for design and production, due to a new class of better-performing machines, more materials accessible, and a greater capacity to create 3D printed products that are faithful to their mechanical characteristics. 3D printing has the potential to transform the way commodities are made since its inception. 

While three decades may not seem like a long time in contrast to traditional manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing has had a significant impact across a wide range of businesses. The use of 3D printing has exploded in the last two years. The popularity and uses of additive manufacturing are certainly on the rise. 

Flexibility, design freedom, time-to-market, mass customization, dispersed production, and many more advantages have strategic consequences. Despite the hurdles, the outcomes of employing 3D printing are proving their worth in various end use industries.

Flexible Design

Traditional manufacturing technologies do not allow for the creation and production of more complicated designs as 3D printing does. Traditional technologies impose design constraints that are no longer applicable when 3D printing is used.

Rapid Prototyping

The prototype process has sped up considerably by 3D printing, which can produce parts in hours. This allows each step to be completed more quickly. When compared to machining prototypes, 3D printing is less expensive and faster at generating components since the item may be produced in hours, allowing for more frequent design modifications.

Strong and Lightweight Parts

Plastic is the most often used 3D printing medium, while certain metals can also be utilized. Plastics, on the other hand, have the advantage of being lighter than their metal counterparts. This is especially significant in industries like automotive and aircraft, where light-weighting is a concern and higher fuel economy may be achieved.

Parts can also be made from custom materials to give specialized features like heat resistance, increased strength, or water repellency.

Growth Prospects for 3D Printing

The prospects for 3D printing in the future are highly promising. Manufacturing stakeholders engaged in 3D printing choices anticipate tremendous growth. Within the next five years, major share of manufacturers is expected to shift towards the use of 3D printing.

·       Research and development have now exceeded prototyping as the most common 3D printing application, and every other application has seen a significant increase. Since 2017, the percentage of companies using additive manufacturing to create production parts, jigs, fixtures, and tooling has nearly tripled, and the use of additive manufacturing for production parts has nearly doubled.

·       Companies are putting a premium on either teaching their staff about additive manufacturing or hiring people who have prior 3D printing experience.

·       3D printing will increasingly be seen as a toolbox of technology and production techniques that may be profitably exploited and integrated by companies in the industrial and commercial sectors.

·       Companies in the industrial and commercial sectors will increasingly view 3D printing as a toolbox of technologies and production techniques to be commercially exploited and integrated.

Brands are Reaping the Benefits of 3D Printing in a Variety of Ways

Due to benefits of additive manufacturing, the advantages that businesses have reported receiving are that companies with 3D printing skills came in to produce and scale much-needed but all-too-rare equipment, material during the pandemic. 3D printing assisted in the development of new equipment by safely speeding up the prototype and design process.

Material Options for 3D Printing are Increasingly Accessible

Since 2019, a significant growth in the sorts of 3D printing materials used by businesses was observed. Although plastics and polymers continue to reign supreme, other materials have made significant progress. This is consistent with our observation that the number of use cases is growing. The difference between plastic and metal 3D printing in terms of primary use isn't as great as you may imagine. Moreover, companies use both plastics and metals equally, and even among those who chose either plastics or metals, plastics took a slight lead.

Some obstacles must be overcome before these resources may be completely accessed. It takes too long to generate the resources required. Certain materials are too expensive to utilize at scale, critical resources are unavailable, and materials are uncertified.

Recent Developments

·       In September 2019, 3D Systems (U.S.) introduced new materials for 3D printing named Hi TEMP 300-AMB and PRO-BLK 10. The new products that are launched by the company will expand the portfolio as well as the range of applications

·       In November 2018, Royal DSM N.V. (Netherlands) introduced Arnitel ID2060 HT, which is a high-performance thermoplastic copolyester for 3D printing. 

Key Players Profiled:

Höganäs AB (Sweden), 3D Systems Corporation (U.S.), General Electric (U.S.), Arkema S.A. (France), Royal DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Stratasys, Ltd. (Israel), Evonik Industries AG. (Germany), EOS GmbH (Germany), Sandvik AB (Sweden), ExOne (U.S.), Arcam AB (Sweden), Materialise NV (Belgium), CRP Technology S.r.l. (Italy), and Envisiontec Inc. (Germany)