LFAM with Metallic Materials—Technology Review

Large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) with metallic materials includes additive manufacturing (AM) processes that enable the production of large-scale metal parts. These advanced processes represent a significant leap forward in the production of large-scale metallic components by selectively adding material layer by layer from 3D models. These novel techniques offer substantial advantages, such as unprecedented customization, material waste reduction, and the possibility of repairing and recovering high-value components. This chapter focuses on metallic LFAM technologies with the highest technology readiness levels, specifically metal directed energy deposition, friction-based AM, and cold spray AM. Furthermore, the sizes of metallic components manufactured using LFAM techniques are virtually unlimited, being delimited only by the reach of the machine. This chapter also presents different metallic LFAM technology solutions, differentiating between machine-tool solutions and industrial robot-based solutions.