A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Bechthold, Laura et al. Research Report 3D printing: A qualitative assessment of applications, recent trends and the technology's future potential Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem, No. 17-2015 Provided in Cooperation with: Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) Suggested Citation: Bechthold, Laura et al. (2015) : 3D printing: A qualitative assessment of applications, recent trends and the technology's future potential, Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem, No. 17-2015, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI), Berlin This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/156627 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. 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Die Ergebnisse und Interpretationen liegen in der alleinigen Verantwortung der durchführenden Institute. Die EFI hat auf die Abfassung des Berichts keinen Einfluss genommen. This study was conducted on behalf of the Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI). The results and interpretations are the sole responsibility of the institute conducting the study. The EFI exercised no influence on the writing of this report. Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem Nr. 17-2015 ISSN 1613-4338 Publisher: Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) Geschäftsstelle c/o Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft Pariser Platz 6 10117 Berlin http://www.e-fi.de/ Alle Rechte, insbesondere das Recht der Vervielfältigung und Verbreitung sowie die Übersetzung, vorbehalten. 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Contact address and further information: Laura Bechthold Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) Arcisstr. 21, D-80333 Munich Tel.: 089 289 28165 Mail: [email protected] www.cdtm.de II This study was conducted by the Center for Digital Technology and Management (www.cdtm.de), a joint institution of the two universities in Munich, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the Technische Universität München (TUM). CDTM offers the interdisciplinary add-on study program „Technology Management“, which is part of the Elite Network of Bavaria. Students from various study backgrounds with creative ideas, great motivation and an entrepreneurial mindset are offered the tools to put their ideas into practice. The study is partially based on results of the CDTM elective course “3D Printing” in Spring 2014. Therefore, findings of this study are an emergent product of the student’s work and additional research conducted by the main authors. Main authors Laura Bechthold (CDTM), Study Coordination Veronika Fischer (CDTM) Anne Greul (CDTM) Andre Hainzlmaier (AUDI AG) Daniel Hugenroth (CDTM) Kristina Kroth (CDTM) Ljudmila Ivanova (CDTM) Benedikt Römer (CDTM) Edyta Sikorska (CDTM) Vincent Sitzmann (CDTM) Additional research was conducted by the following CDTM students: Regina Endres, Benjamin Haller, Daniel Herzog, Pawel Kwiecien, Simina Pasat, Alexander Popp, Alexander Preißner, Sebastian Schaal, Martin Schöll, Jiri Smetana, and Yoana Tsoneva. III Contents FIGURES AND TABLES ...................................................................................................... VI ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................... VII 0. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. VIII 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 3D printing: The next industrial revolution? ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Report structure ................................................................................................................................................. 4 2. FUNDAMENTALS OF 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY............................................... 6 2.1 Definition of 3D printing .................................................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Chronology of additive manufacturing technology ........................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 Technological inventions and patents ........................................................................................................ 6 2.2.2 Sketching an emerging landscape of applications ..................................................................................... 8 2.3 Technology introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.1 From bits to atoms: The additive manufacturing process .......................................................................... 9 2.3.2 Understanding different 3D printing techniques ........................................................................................ 9 2.3.3 Printing materials and feedstock .............................................................................................................. 13 3. AREAS OF APPLICATION: TRENDS AND CASE STUDIES ................................... 15 3.1 Additive manufacturing for industrial production ........................................................................................... 15 3.1.1 Status quo and general trends .................................................................................................................. 15 3.1.2 Case Studies ............................................................................................................................................. 18 3.1.3 Outlook: Possible changes in production processes ................................................................................. 25 3.2 3D Printing in the healthcare and well-being sector ....................................................................................... 29 3.2.1 Medical applications ................................................................................................................................ 29 3.2.2 3D food printing & nutrition .................................................................................................................... 35 3.3 3D Printing in the consumer market ............................................................................................................... 37 3.3.1 Status quo and trends ............................................................................................................................... 37 3.3.2 Case studies ............................................................................................................................................. 42 3.3.3 Outlook: The world of 3D printing from the consumer perspective ........................................................ 47 4. MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ............................................................. 51 4.1 Public support and research activities ............................................................................................................. 51 4.1.1 Germany .................................................................................................................................................