Technology overview of metal additive manufacturing processes

In recent times, the customer requirements undergo dynamic changes and industries are shifting focus towards manufacturing of customized end-user products. Direct metal deposition is an evolving branch of additive manufacturing that has found its application ranging from rapid prototyping to production of real-time industrial components. The evolution of this Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) technique has resulted in the introduction and development of different MAM process variants for specific applications. In addition, metal additive manufacturing has drastically reduced the fabricating and design constraints, and greatly enhanced the product versatility. This review intends to provide insight into the variants of metal additive manufacturing techniques with its novelty, mechanism, applications and potential challenges. The review seeks to improvise the basic understanding of MAM processes and thus broaden the scope of research and development.