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Additive Manufacturing

The future of Additive Manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In line with Vision 2030, the National Industry Strategy (NIS)⁽⁵⁾ and the objectives of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIMR) aims to develop an additive manufacturing (AM) ecosystem that will enable the establishment of additive manufacturing businesses within the Kingdom’s expanding existing players to generate more avenues within the Kingdom to foster the growth of the domestic market and create additional opportunities.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the supply market predominantly revolves around service providers, while the presence of material supply and equipment is relatively limited, there are ample prospects for KSA to broaden its value chain and cater to both the domestic and international markets, thereby capitalizing on the potential within the services sector.

(5) Source: National Industry Strategy (NIS)

Types & Processes

Based on the printed material; being liqued, powder or connected filament, the Additive Manufacturing can be categorized into seven types/processes.

Selecting the right process comes down to aligning the advantages and limitations of each technology to the application’s most important requirements. Properly utilizing the available 3D printing technologies will reduce design risk and, ultimately, result in better products.

Process	Acronyms	Feedstock	Polymer	Metal
Extrusion	FFF, FDM, BMD	Filament, rod, pallets
Photopolymerization	SLA, DLP, CLIP	Liquid
Powder Bed Fusion (Polymer)	SLS, HSS, MJF	Powder
Powder Bed Fusion (Metal)	SLM, DMLS, EBM	Powder
Binder Jetting	BJ, 3DP	Powder
Material Jetting	MJ, Polyjet, Multijet	Liquid
Directed Energy Deposition	DED, LENS, EBAM	Wire, powder
Sheet Lamination	LOM, UAM	Sheet

Source: MIT, AM Process Comparisons, 2021

Process	Explanation	Machine
Extrusion	Material is selectively dispensed through a nozzle or orifice, where is typically heated to soften or melt the material.
Photopolymerization	Liquid photopolymer in a vat is selectively cured by light-activated photopolymerization.
Powder Bed Fusion (Polymer)	Focused thermal energy selectively fuses regions of a powder polymer bed.
Powder Bed Fusion (Metal)	Focused thermal energy selectively fuses regions of a powder metal bed.
Binder Jetting	Droplets of build material are selectively deposited.
Material Jetting	A liquid bonding agent is selectively deposited to bind powder materials, typically followed by sintering to densify the bound powder.
Directed Energy Deposition	Focused thermal energy is used to fuse materials by melting as they are being deposited.
Sheet Lamination	Sheets of material are bonded to join consecutive layers of a part.

Source: MIT, AM Process Comparisons, 2021

Applications

The National Industry Strategy (NIS) places emphasis on 12 key manufacturing clusters that are of high priority. Advanced Manufacturing (AM) can play a supportive role in enabling the Kingdom to achieve regional and global success. The table below summarizes the utilization of use cases across different sectors as follows:

AM prioritized sector	NIS prioritized sector	Use cases
Healthcare	Medical devices	Orthopedic & cranial implants, dental and prosthetics
Healthcare	Pharmaceuticals	3D printed drug for epilepsy and personalized medications
Aerospace	Aerospace	Spare parts, tooling, clips and brackets and interior parts
Consumer	Food	Traditional food production, tooling & spare parts and 3D printed meat and confectionary
Power, energy & industrial machinery	Chemicals	Spare parts and tooling
	Renewables	Power storage battery, solar panels and wind turbines
	Machinery & Equipment	Spare parts and tooling
	Metals	Steel, Titanium, Aluminum and Cobalt Chrome alloy
Automotive	Automotive	Customized parts, electric vehicles and jigs and fixtures
Architecture & construction	Building Materials	3D printed houses
Other (non-prioritized sector)	Maritime	Spare parts
Other (non-prioritized sector)	Military	Customized parts and spare parts

Source: National Industry Strategy (NIS)

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