ABSTRACT
Disruptive technology has entered the common vocabulary at companies, leaders seeking to avoid the fate of Blockbuster have a renewed focus on being disruptors rather than the disrupted. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a disruptive technology, but only when effectively deployed. With the introduction of metals and more capable polymers, the emphasis shifted from purely prototyping to production of tooling and test hardware. Biomimicry of natural structures is a common technique in AM due to the ability to digitally manufacture new structures of previously unknown internal complexity. At many companies, this is revolutionizing the way that products are being designed and has been dubbed design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). Contrasted with other design for manufacturability initiatives, the focus is on the combined space of design function and manufacturing capability, rather than on cost prioritization. Many will equate the well-publicized support design rules for powder bed-based processes such as limiting hole sizes and overhangs to having performed DfAM.
