Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges
Additive manufacturing (AM) of copper is subject to dynamic development regarding available processes and the quality of produced parts. While challenging, AM processes for copper provide parts with a quality comparable to other metallic material groups like steels. The reasons for the lower prevale...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-4494/9/4/109 |
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| author | Moritz Benedikt Schäfle Michel Fett Julian Gärtner Eckhard Kirchner |
| author_facet | Moritz Benedikt Schäfle Michel Fett Julian Gärtner Eckhard Kirchner |
| author_sort | Moritz Benedikt Schäfle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Additive manufacturing (AM) of copper is subject to dynamic development regarding available processes and the quality of produced parts. While challenging, AM processes for copper provide parts with a quality comparable to other metallic material groups like steels. The reasons for the lower prevalence of additive manufacturing of copper components in industrial applications are currently not sufficiently researched, especially in light of the significant progress made in the maturity of this technology. A survey is used to investigate the assessments of protagonists in the field of copper AM. The needs of current and potential users of copper AM are analyzed and outlined. This study reveals that the most relevant technical limitation for users is the reduced surface quality of parts, while overall processes need to become less costly and more reliable to find broader use. Answers given hint to a higher degree of automation, the possibility of multi-material processing, and the upscaling of machine and part sizes as relevant future trends in the copper AM sector. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e8bfca5a6b014a2c8dcb4406dfea8dd6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2504-4494 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing |
| spelling | doaj-art-e8bfca5a6b014a2c8dcb4406dfea8dd62025-08-20T03:13:47ZengMDPI AGJournal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing2504-44942025-03-019410910.3390/jmmp9040109Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and ChallengesMoritz Benedikt Schäfle0Michel Fett1Julian Gärtner2Eckhard Kirchner3Institute for Product Development and Machine Elements, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, GermanyInstitute for Product Development and Machine Elements, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, GermanyInstitute for Product Development and Machine Elements, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, GermanyInstitute for Product Development and Machine Elements, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, GermanyAdditive manufacturing (AM) of copper is subject to dynamic development regarding available processes and the quality of produced parts. While challenging, AM processes for copper provide parts with a quality comparable to other metallic material groups like steels. The reasons for the lower prevalence of additive manufacturing of copper components in industrial applications are currently not sufficiently researched, especially in light of the significant progress made in the maturity of this technology. A survey is used to investigate the assessments of protagonists in the field of copper AM. The needs of current and potential users of copper AM are analyzed and outlined. This study reveals that the most relevant technical limitation for users is the reduced surface quality of parts, while overall processes need to become less costly and more reliable to find broader use. Answers given hint to a higher degree of automation, the possibility of multi-material processing, and the upscaling of machine and part sizes as relevant future trends in the copper AM sector.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-4494/9/4/109surveycopperadditive manufacturingpart quality |
| spellingShingle | Moritz Benedikt Schäfle Michel Fett Julian Gärtner Eckhard Kirchner Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing survey copper additive manufacturing part quality |
| title | Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges |
| title_full | Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges |
| title_fullStr | Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges |
| title_short | Additive Manufacturing of Copper—A Survey on Current Needs and Challenges |
| title_sort | additive manufacturing of copper a survey on current needs and challenges |
| topic | survey copper additive manufacturing part quality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-4494/9/4/109 |
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