The 3D printing market is diverse; certain materials and applications are seeing significant commercial growth while others are still overcoming technical and economic barriers to adoption. The next decade undoubtedly will see many changes with plenty of revenue to be generated. One thing that will be central to all of this will be the materials; an expanded and adaptable portfolio will be essential to any success.
Research, subscription and consultancy products provider IDTechEx, Cambridge, UK, forecast the 3D printing market to be worth $18.4 billion by 2030 for 3D printing materials alone, and the market activity from major companies clearly demonstrates this opportunity as they position themselves to get a significant market share.
The company has seen multiple key news stories from chemical giants including BASF, Evonik, Mitsubishi Chemical, DSM and many more over recent years. The polymer market is anticipated to see a period of consolidation, inevitable with a maturing technology, but that does not mean the material market’s evolution is anywhere near complete. The metal additive manufacturing market is anticipated to grow to $15.5 billion by 2030 after a period of decline brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a large amount of change in this field; within the powder supply chain, IDTechEx has seen multiple targeted acquisitions and expansions, and there is still a large amount of technology innovation and progression typified by the binder jetting and bound metal developments.
Beyond metals and polymers, there is a huge amount of attention going into ceramics, composites, multi-material solutions and more, all with their own challenges and disruptors.
One of the key barriers to adoption across the field has been the range of materials available and their properties. Designers are used to having a huge range of materials to choose from, and having that selection dramatically shrunk has hindered the market impact. Materials still need to be engineered for each printing process and application, for which the race is on.
As is the mantra of the 21st century, data is king, and materials design for 3D printing is proving to be no exception. Building libraries for 3D printing materials and rapidly accelerating their production and development is a key emerging area.
For more information, see the IDTechEx market reports “3D Printed Materials Market 2020-2030: COVID Edition” and “Metal Additive Manufacturing 2020-2030” at www.IDTechEx.com.
