Welcome to PADT’s online 3D Printing Glossary. A place to find definitions for the terms used in the Additive Manufacturing industry.
It is by no means authoritative nor complete, but we hope you find it helpful. It is our take on the words used in the industry, based on our activity in that industry since the mid-1990s. We hope it will serve as a starting point for a larger and more comprehensive glossary as time passes. To that end, If you have a term you would like to see added, or a suggestion for a change to one of our definitions, please share your suggestions here.
- 3
- 3D File
- 3D Manufacturing Format
- 3D Printer
- 3D Printing
- 3MF
- 4
- 4D Printing
- a
- Abrasive Blasting
- ABS
- Accuracy
- Acetone
- ACIS File
- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
- Additive Manufacturing
- Additive Manufacturing File Format
- Additive Manufacturing Machine
- Additive Manufacturing System
- Aerogel
- Alumide
- AM
- Anisotropic
- ASCII
- Assembly
- b
- Ballistic Particle Manufacturing
- Bead Blasting
- Beam Diameter
- Bed
- Binary
- Binder
- Binder Jetting
- Biomimicry
- Biopolymer
- Bioprinter
- Bioprinting
- Boundary Representation Geometry
- Bounding Box
- BPM
- Breakaway Support Material
- Brim
- Brown Part
- Build Area
- Build Chamber
- Build Coordinate System
- Build Cycle
- Build Direction
- Build Envelope
- Build Height
- Build Layer
- Build Material
- Build Origin
- Build Parameters
- Build Plate
- Build Platform
- Build Space
- Build Surface
- Build Time
- Build Volume
- c
- CAD
- CAD File
- Cartridge
- Chord Height
- CNC
- Compressed File
- Computer Aided Design
- Computerized Numerical Control
- Cool Down
- Cross-Link
- Cure Temperature
- Curing
- d
- Datum
- De-Binder
- Delamination
- Desktop 3D Printing
- Digital Light Synthesis
- Digital Material
- Digital Sculpting
- Direct Laser Melting
- Direct Metal Deposition
- Direct Metal Laser Melting
- Direct Metal Laser Sintering
- Directed Energy Deposition
- Distortion
- Distortion Compensation
- DLM
- DLS
- DMD
- DMLM
- DMLS
- DOD
- Drop on Demand
- e
- EDM
- Electron Beam
- Electrostatic Discharge Materials
- Encrypted File
- End Part
- Epoxy
- ESD
- Extruder
- Extrusion
- f
- Facet
- Faceted Geometry
- FDM
- Feature
- Feed Region
- Feeder
- Feedstock
- FFF
- Filament
- Fixture
- Front
- Fully Dense
- Fused Deposition Modeling
- Fused Filament Fabrication
- Fusing
- Fusion
- g
- G-Code
- Generative Design
- Geometry
- Geometry Kernel
- Granular Materials Binding
- Green Part
- Grit Blast
- h
- Hardening
- Heat Affected Zone
- Heat Deflection
- Heat Treat
- Heat Zone
- Heated Bed
- High Impact Polystyrene
- HIPS
- Hot End
- i
- IGES
- Inert Gas
- Infill
- Inkjet
- Insert
- Investment Casting
- Isotropic
- l
- L-PBF
- Laminated Object Manufacturing
- Laser
- Laser Cusing
- Laser Engineered Net Shaping
- Laser Powder Bed Fusion
- Laser Powder Forming
- Lattice
- Layer
- Layer Count
- Layer Height
- Layer Thickness
- LDM
- LENS
- Lightweighting
- LOM
- Low-Temperature Deposition Modeling
- LPBF
- LPF
- m
- Machine Coordinate System
- Machine Origin
- Manufacturing Lot
- Material Extrusion
- Material Jetting
- Material Supplier
- Maximum Layer Thickness
- Melt Pool
- Melting
- Melting Temperature
- Metal Powder Bed Fusion
- Minimum Layer Thickness
- MJF
- MJS
- Mold
- Molding
- Monomer
- MPBF
- Multi Jet Fusion
- Multi-step Process
- Multiphase Jet Solidification
- n
- Native Format
- Near Net Shape
- Nesting
- Neutral File
- Nozzle
- Number of Layers
- NURBS
- Nylon
- o
- OBJ
- Orientation
- Orthotropic
- Overcure
- Overflow Region
- Overhang
- Overlap
- p
- Packing
- Parasolid File
- Part
- Part Bed
- Part Cake
- Part Consolidation
- Part Location
- Photocure
- Photopolymer
- Photopolymerization
- PJP
- PLA
- Plastic
- Plastic Jet Printing
- Polyamide
- PolyJet
- Polylactic Acid
- Polymer
- Porosity
- Post-Processing
- Powder Batch
- Powder Bed
- Powder Bed Fusion
- Powder Blend
- Powder Lot
- Pre-Processing
- Process Parameters
- Process Simulation
- Product Definition
- Production Part
- Production Run
- Prototype
- PTFE
- PVA
- r
- Raft
- Rapid Prototyping
- Rapid Tooling
- Raster Pattern
- Reactive Material
- Reactive Metals
- Recoater Blade
- Residual Stress
- Resin
- Resolution
- RP
- RT
- s
- Scan Pattern
- SDL
- Seam
- Selective Deposition Lamination
- Selective Heat Sintering
- Selective Laser Sintering
- Self-Assembly
- SGC
- Sheet Lamination
- Shell
- Shrinkage Compensation
- SHS
- Single-step Process
- Sintering
- SLA
- Slice
- Slicer
- SLS
- Solid Geometry
- Solid Ground Curing
- Soluble Support Material
- Spool
- Stair Steps
- STEP
- Stereolithography
- STL
- Subtractive Manufacturing
- Support Material
- Support Volume
- Supports
- Surface Angle
- Surface Finish
- System Set-up
- t
- Teflon
- Text File
- Thermal Stress
- Thermoplastic
- Thermoset Plastic
- Tip Diameter
- Tool Path
- Tooling
- Topological Optimization
- Topology
- Traditional Manufacturing
- Travel
- Tribecular
- u
- UAM
- UC
- Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing
- Ultrasonic Consolidation
- Ultraviolet Light
- Used Powder
- UV Light
- v
- Valid Solid Model
- Vapor Smoothing
- Vat
- Vat Photopolymerization
- Virgin Powder
- Viscosity
- Voxel
- w
- Wall Thickness
- Warm Up Time
- Warping
- Watertight Solid
- Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing
- Wire EDM
- x
- X-Y Plane
- z
- Z-Direction
- Z-Height
- Zipped File