Abstract
Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, also known as 3D printing, has overhauled the field of mechanical design and manufacturing by offering the ability to manufacture lightweight, strong structures with intricate geometries. This review discusses the AM methods including selective laser melting (SLM) and fused deposition modeling (FDM) and their applications on the production of lightweight components for aerospace, automotive and biomedical industry. We discuss material properties, process optimization, and performance parameters with an emphasis on lower weight and mechanical strength. Our approach integrates the literature with case studies investigating the production of components using AM. Applications to turbine blades, automotive chassis, and biomedical implants demonstrate the efficiency and customizability of AM. Conventionally galvanized materials also reduce their mass in weight by 60%, however, the AM parts shed 35% of their weight compared to their conventionally made counterparts and a strength of 90–95%. The remaining issues are higher production cost, the lack of the available material and the quality control for it. This work highlights the potential of AM to increase the design freedom and sustainability within mechanical engineering, enabling ground breaking lightweight designs.