1) FFF – Fused Filament Fabrication

2) DLP – Digital Light Processing 4/2.

In Digital Light Processing (DLP), a pool of liquid polymer is exposed to the light of a DLP projector under inactive light conditions.  The exposed liquid polymer hardens.

The build plate then moves down in small increments and the liquid polymer is again exposed to light. The process is repeated until the model is built.

The liquid polymer is then drained from the tank, leaving the solid model.

3) CJP – ColorJet Printing

CJP (ColourJet Printing) technology is the professional additive manufacturing method that uses plaster or plastic powder as a material for 3D printing.

With this 3D printing technology, rapid prototyping takes place by gluing powder until the desired object is completely moulded. This is then covered with a binder layer, which allows the object to be coloured (with more than 6 million colours). CJP technology (unlike FFF and SLA technology) does not need a binder and allows any shape to be printed (even 'under-squares') because it is the excess powder in the tank that supports the upper parts.

4) MJP – MultiJet Printing

With 3D printers of this type, rapid prototyping is achieved by the layer-by-layer deposition of liquid, light-hardening plastic resins - and waxy material

which acts as a support - until the finished object is composed.

MJP (MultiJet Printing) technology is a professional additive manufacturing method that ensures an unrivalled quality result.

The materials used to produce the parts are high-performance plastic resins with mechanical properties that meet the requirements of professional prototyping and small production runs, and biocompatible resins for the production of castable models.

5) SLA – Stereolitografia

Stereolithography is a technique for producing individual three-dimensional objects directly from digital data processed by CAD/CAM software.

Its main application is rapid prototyping, allowing physical objects to be tested prior to industrial production or to prepare models for casting or die-casting moulds.

It can also be used to quickly produce parts by having the file sent over the Internet. The use for mass production is conceivable where other production techniques prove difficult and costly (e.g. with numerical control machines) and generally for very limited numerical production where the fixed cost of equipment (shells, moulds, etc.) is too high.

6) SLS – Sinterizzazione Laser Selettiva

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology is achieved through a layered addition process, in which the use of a laser allows thermoplastic materials to be melted (or sintered), creating the three-dimensional model or prototype. The process involves laying a very thin layer of powder (0.1mm) on the work platform, so that the laser can solidify the powder according to the section of the geometry, layer by layer. The use of sintering for the production of prototypes and components drastically reduces development costs, shortens lead times and eliminates tooling costs for production.

Parts produced with SLS Selective Laser Sintering technology can be used for assembly checks, fit and form tests and for final parts for checking and optimising developed designs and products.

7) DMP – Direct Metal Printing

The production process of this technology consists of placing a bed of metal powders which are then melted through a laser beam. Once the processing on the layer is finished, a roller will be activated and a second, very thin bed of powder will be positioned, which will be processed again by the laser beam, fusing it with the previous layer. Obviously, in order to obtain the desired geometries and volumes at the end of the printing process, the laser beam will only hit the areas involved in the production of the part, completely leaving out the rest of the powders. In this way, the unprocessed powders can be recovered and reused for the next print.