Hubs – a Dutch company belonging to the Protolabs production network, has published the next edition of its flagship report on market trends in the 3D printing industry for 2023. According to data published by Hubs, 66% out of a thousand respondents indicate prototyping as the main application of additive technologies, while 21% use 3D printers to produce final elements. The total value of the market is expected to increase by +17%.
The fastest growing area is still metal 3D printing, however, polymer 3D printing generates more than twice as much revenue. The most popular incremental method remains FDM / FFF, which was indicated by as many as 56% of respondents. 3D printing covers about 20% of production orders for almost half of the respondents, and three-quarters of companies print more than ten parts in production runs, an increase of +49% compared to 2021.
Hubs also highlights the development of materials and the ever-growing variety of engineering thermoplastics, resins, composites, and polymer and metal powders. In electronics and transport, ESD class materials, as well as damping elastomeric resins and fire-resistant materials, start to play an important role.
Hubs points out that the key industries that use additive technologies to the greatest extent remain aviation, medicine and automotive. The future of 3D printing may also be applications that change shape under the influence of various physical factors, i.e. 4D printing. While this technology is still in its infancy, Hubs says it’s easy to imagine the huge impact it could have on various sectors.
Ultimately, Hubs is confident that 3D printing will continue to develop as a fully-fledged manufacturing method. Even though only 20.72% of respondents currently use 3D printing to produce final parts, continued developments in the efficiency, speed and availability of 3D printers and high-performance materials will see this number grow in the future.
Source: www.hubs.com