This article provides an overview of the adoption of additively manufactured materials in dentistry. It discusses the practical workflows of a three-dimensional printing technology, vat photopolymerization. Three subgroups of the vat photopolymerization process are laser beam or classic stereolithography apparatus (SLA), direct light processing, and liquid-crystal-display-masked SLA. The article covers two subgroups of 3D printing resins-based appliances, namely intraoral and extraoral appliances. Information on various types of dental appliances and the fabrication of in-office appliances is provided. The article also reviews fourth-dimension printing and discusses the applications of the personalized care model in medicine and dentistry.

This article is a detailed account of the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of microdispensing processes used in electronics manufacturing industries. The discussion covers various approaches to control material flow, namely time pressure, auger, positive displacement, and progressive cavity pump dispensing. The concept of valving to control starting and stopping is also discussed. The applications include printing solders in microelectronic packaging, printing to pads, printing conductive patterns for antennas, printing active circuits, printing on flexible surfaces, and structural printing.

This article provides an overview of the implementation of wire embedding with ultrasonic energy and thermal embedding for polymer additive manufacturing, discussing the applications and advantages of the technique. The mechanical and electrical performance of the embedded wires is compared with that of other conductive ink processes in terms of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.

Three-dimensional microscopy can be used to reveal the shape, distribution, and connectivity of three-dimensional (3D) features that lie buried within an opaque material. This article discusses several experimental techniques that can be used to generate 3D images. These include serial sectioning, focused ion beam tomography, atom probe tomography, and X-ray microtomography. Nine case studies are presented that represent the work of the various research groups currently working on 3D microscopy using serial sectioning and illustrate the variants of the basic experimental techniques. The article also discusses the techniques for reconstruction and visualization of 3D microstructures with advanced computer software and hardware.

Bridging the gap between education and medical practice, centralized hospital-based 3D printing, or what is termed point-of-care (POC) manufacturing, has been rapidly growing in the United States as well as internationally. This article provides insights into the considerations and the current workflow of creating 3D-printed anatomical models at the POC. Case studies are introduced to show the complex range of anatomical models that can be produced while also exploring how patient care benefits. It describes the advanced form of communication in medicine. The advantages as well as pitfalls of using the patient-specific 3D-printed models at the POC are addressed, demonstrating the fundamental knowledge needed to create 3D-printed anatomical models through POC manufacturing.

Material extrusion systems are the most common types of additive manufacturing systems, also known as three-dimensional (3D) printers. This article focuses on the general 3D printing processes as can be demonstrated and manipulated in desktop printers. The discussion includes details of the components involved in material extrusion as well as the melt extrusion solidification (during cooling) process, the underlying mechanism of road bonding, and the factors affecting good part quality. The discussion also covers support material, postprocessing, and road-quality considerations and the addition of infill in melt extrusion to the hollow spaces inside an object to give it structural strength. Information is also provided on different materials and associated material properties that affect the rate the printer is able to advance and retract material, thereby affecting the quality and rate at which a part is printed. The final section provides information on the mechanism of viscous extrusion 3D printing.

Additive manufacturing (AM), or three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a class of manufacturing processes that create the desired geometries of an object, or an assembly of objects, layer by layer or volumetrically. AM has been used extensively for manufacturing medical devices, due to its versatility to satisfy the specific needs of an intended medical field for the product/device. This article provides a comprehensive review of AM in medical devices by the medical specialty panels of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 862 to 892, including anesthesiology, ear and nose, general hospital, ophthalmic, plastic surgery, radiology, cardiovascular, orthopedic, dental, neurology, gynecology, obstetrics, physical medicine, urology, toxicology, and pathology. It is classified under these panels, and critical reviews and future outlooks are provided. The application of AM to fabricate medical devices in each panel is reviewed; lastly, a comparison is provided to reveal relevant gaps in each medical field.

This article demonstrates the depth and breadth of commercial and third-party software packages available to simulate metals processes. It provides a representation of the spectrum of applications from simulation of atomic-level effects to manufacturing optimization. The article tabulates the software name, function or process applications, vendor or developer, and website information.

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) can digitally fabricate intricate patterns on conformal surfaces with applications that include flexible electronics and antennas on complex geometries. Given the potential performance and economic benefits, aerosol jetting was studied and compared with the well-known and competing inkjet printing (IJP). More than 35 of the most relevant, highly cited articles were reviewed, focusing on applications requiring fine features on complex surfaces. The following performance indicators were considered for the comparison of AJP and IJP, because these aspects were the most commonly mentioned within the included articles and were identified as being the most relevant for a comprehensive performance assessment: printing process, line width, overspray, complex surface compatibility, diversity of printable materials, and deposition rate. This article is an account of the results of this comparison study in terms of printing capabilities, ink requirements, and economic aspects.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been growing as a significant research interest in academic and industry research communities. This article presents flexible and biocompatible energy-harvesting devices using AM technology. First, it discusses material selection for achieving piezoelectricity and triboelectricity. Then, the article highlights the structures of energy harvesters and describes their working mechanisms. Next, it covers the additively manufactured implantable piezoelectric and triboelectric energy harvesters. Further, the article describes the 3D-printed wearable energy harvesters as well as their applications. An overview of additively manufactured self-powered sensors is highlighted. Finally, the article discusses the issues for 3D-printed energy harvesters and their roadmap.

Additive manufacturing (AM), also referred to as three-dimensional printing or rapid prototyping, is a set of technologies that has rapidly evolved and has drawn much research attention in the manufacturing of high value-added products. This article focuses on dentistry, one of the fields in which AM has gained much traction. It discusses the AM processes used to produce dentures, crowns, and bridges. Digitization techniques, which are the first step and provide the CAD model for AM processes, are presented. Scanning technologies that are widely used in dental manufacturing are presented in detail, and the strengths and weaknesses of each process within their applications are discussed. AM processes are discussed in detail, and the materials that are widely used in AM-embedded dental manufacturing are briefly surveyed. The final section concludes with remarks and a preview of future research and practice directions.

When complex designs, transient loadings, and nonlinear material behavior must be evaluated, computer-based techniques are used. This is where the finite-element analysis (FEA) is most applicable and provides considerable assistance in design analysis as well as failure analysis. This article provides a general view on the applicability of finite-element modeling in conducting analyses of failed components. It highlights the uses of finite-element modeling in the area of failure analysis and design, with emphasis on structural analysis. The discussion covers the general development and both general- and special-purpose applications of FEA. The special-purpose applications of FEA covered are piping and pressure vessel analysis, impact analysis, and microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems analysis. The article provides case histories that involved the use of FEA in failure analysis.

This article discusses the basic operating principles, industrial applications, and advantages as well as the parameters influencing the process of laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of solid materials, liquid materials, laser-absorbing layers, intact structures, and metallic 3D microstructures in additive manufacturing.

Vat polymerization (VP) is an additive manufacturing (AM), or three-dimensional (3-D) printing process in which 3-D objects are produced by hardening a liquid polymer into the desired shape. With the introduction of new materials and improvements in material properties, VP offers a good alternative for AM for low-volume production. This overview of the VP process begins with an introduction to two main processes of VP, namely stereolithography apparatus and digital light processing, and then moves on to discuss the characteristics of the feedstocks used as well as their selection criteria. The article then covers safety issues associated with feedstock handling and the manufacturing constraints related to part orientation and design, providing some key tips for VP support structures. This is followed by a discussion on postprocessing/finishing of VP parts. A brief concluding section considers some special topics related to AM process.

Powder-bed additive manufacturing (AM) processes are some of the most commonly used techniques, necessitating the accurate measurement of powder flowability properties. This article discusses some powder flow tests that occur in powder-bed AM machines. These include the Hall/Carney flow test, bulk/tap density, rheometer, and the revolving or rotating drum technique. The three categories of powder properties that are available from rheometer experiments are discussed: bulk, dynamic flow, and shear properties. The article also describes the basic principles and applications of micro-X-ray computed tomography in studying powder porosity characteristics nondestructively.

Soldering represents the primary method of attaching electronic components, such as resistors, capacitors, or packaged integrated circuits, to either printed wiring board whose defects is minimized by consideration of proper PWB design, device packages, and board assembly. This article discusses the categories that are most important to successful electronic soldering, namely, solders and fluxes selection, nature of base materials and finishes, solder joint design, and solderability testing.

Nondestructive testing (NDT), also known as nondestructive evaluation (NDE), includes various techniques to characterize materials without damage. This article focuses on the typical NDE techniques that may be considered when conducting a failure investigation. The article begins with discussion about the concept of the probability of detection (POD), on which the statistical reliability of crack detection is based. The coverage includes the various methods of surface inspection, including visual-examination tools, scanning technology in dimensional metrology, and the common methods of detecting surface discontinuities by magnetic-particle inspection, liquid penetrant inspection, and eddy-current testing. The major NDE methods for internal (volumetric) inspection in failure analysis also are described.

This article discusses technologies focused on processing plastic materials or producing direct tools used in plastics processing. The article focuses on extrusion and injection molding, covering applications, materials and their properties, equipment, processing details, part design guidelines, and special processes. It also covers the functions of the extruder, webline handling, mixing and compounding operations, and process troubleshooting. Thermoforming and mold design are covered. Various other technologies for polymer processing covered in this article are blow molding, rotational molding, compression molding, transfer molding, hand lay-up process, casting, and additive manufacturing.