5. Conclusion

Recent developments in AM technologies serve to highlight the sector’s great dynamism. Such advances, both in materials and in the forms or complexity which can be achieved, provide a glimpse of the innovative uses to which the processes may be put. Thus, although current applications remain chiefly dedicated to made-to-measure production (implants, surgery, etc.), or high added value items (aerospace, defence, Formula 1, etc.), the democratisation of such technologies will, in the very near future, have an impact on many fields, both technologically and socially. While the main constraints on the massive roll-out of some of these processes remains the limited size of parts and the high costs of machines and/or materials (particularly for metal products), it is highly probable that, once these barriers have been lifted, the potential for innovation associated with these technologies could...