Note: Much of the following was excerpted from Wohlers Report 2022.
Additive manufacturing (AM) as defined by the ISO/ASTM 52900 terminology standard is the process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data. Usually, material is joined layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive and formative methods of manufacturing. Other terms for AM include 3D printing, additive fabrication, direct digital manufacturing, freeform fabrication, solid freeform fabrication, rapid manufacturing, and rapid prototyping.