Recycling chips for DED, the AM industry’s Q1 2025 financials, and the Ultimate LEGO 3D printer.
Welcome to the latest edition of the engineering.com Additive Manufacturing Progress Update, a monthly column focusing on the latest in 3D printing research and business – with a little fun thrown in at the end. Here’s the previous column, in case you missed it.
Let’s get to it!
Additive manufacturing research review
In this section, we review recent additive manufacturing (AM) research papers published in open-access formats, summarizing each article with comments from the researcher(s) when possible. We also include links to the full texts for further reading.
Recycling chips for directed energy deposition
3D printing is often touted as having greater sustainability benefits than more conventional manufacturing technologies. While that’s not always the case, there are still plenty of examples of how AM can enable a more sustainable approach to manufacturing. A group of engineers and materials scientists at Fraunhofer IPK, Mecklenburger Metallguss, Technische Universität Berlin and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany recently published a paper on using recycled nickel-aluminum bronze (NAB) chips as feedstock for directed energy deposition (DED).
Using impact whirl milling, the team was able to take grinding chips from ship propellers and turn them into powder with the right flow properties and particle size distribution to make them suitable for DED. While there were some issues with the mechanical properties of the resulting test parts due to lingering impurities, particularly on tensile fracture surfaces, these samples also showed good properties in the vertical build-up direction, with 775 MPa in tensile strength, 455 MPa in yield strength and 12.6% elongation at break.
Work hardening for L-PBF aluminum alloys
In many applications, laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) has become the preferred method for producing aluminum alloy parts. However, the mechanical behavior of such parts is not always easy to predict, hence the research by two engineers from Nottingham Trent University. Focusing on how different build orientations affect work hardening of L-PBF parts made from AlSi10Mg, they combined Hollomon and Voce approximations with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to improve their predictions.
As a result, the researchers were able to develop a method of estimating Vickers hardness from tensile test data and work hardening, eliminating the need for direct hardness testing. Given the expense and expertise required for operating hardness testing facilities, this research offers the potential for significant time and cost savings of hardness testing for aluminum alloy parts made using L-PBF.
In-situ alloyed Ti1Fe vs Ti6Al4V
Of the various titanium alloys, Ti6Al4V is perhaps the most commonly used in AM. Parts made from Ti6Al4V using L-PBF typically exhibit high strength – frequently in the gigapascal range for ultimate tensile strength – and relatively good ductility, provided the parts are free from defects. Nevertheless, as a team of researchers from the University of Osaka have pointed out, neither the originally intended microstructures of this alloy (which result from the presence of vanadium solutes) nor its target mechanical properties are compatible with near-net-shape AM processes.
This observation prompted the researchers to explore an alternative alloy to the widely used Ti6Al4V, aiming to achieve the same microstructure and mechanical properties using the simpler and less expensive Ti1Fe. Using homogeneously mixed samples prepared from fine iron particles at higher energy densities, the researchers were able to achieve a similar microstructure to Ti6Al4V with corresponding tensile properties. The result is a first-of-its-kind set of conditions for obtaining strong and ductile Ti1Fe parts alloyed in-situ using L-PBF.
Composite filament materials for 3D printed drone parts
Few industries have embraced 3D printing technology as enthusiastically as aerospace, and there are few aerospace applications more suitable for 3D printing than unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aka drones. While fused filament fabrication (FFF) is typically reserved for prototyping, drones are one case where it’s found purchase in end-use production. This is largely due to advancements in FFF materials, particularly carbon-fiber-infused PLA, PETG, and nylon.
A team of researchers from the department of industrial design and production engineering at the University of West Attica in Greece have taken a closer look at how these materials have influenced flight endurance, stability, and payload capacity in drones made using FFF. More specifically, they examine how composite filaments improve strength-to-weight performance, structural durability and dimensional stability to enhance 3D printed drones.
According to the researchers, these advantages significantly outweigh the challenges associated with extruding composite materials, such as nozzle wear, anisotropy and scalability issues and, for this reason, those challenges should not hamper the broader adoption of composite material FFF for drone production.
Metal AM + casting for EV components
Metal additive manufacturing hasn’t yet taken off in the automotive industry, though the trend toward electrification holds the promise that its use will grow considerably over the next decade. For example, electric powertrain components that need fluid-based thermal management can benefit from conformal cooling channels that can only be made using metal AM. A team of researchers from Fraunhofer IFAM and Leibniz-IWT in Germany have been working to support such advancements by comparing and validating MAGMASOFT casting simulation software for these applications, both on its own and combined with finite element (FE) simulation.
In this case, the researchers focused on AlSi10Mg alloy processed using L-PBF to create cooling channels for high-pressure die casting (HPDC) components without using a stabilizing filter. What they found was that the channel’s critical temperature levels can be accurately predicted from casting simulations, including the effects of part geometry and process adjustments on cooling channel stability.
Additive manufacturing market matters
In this section, we discuss notable changes in the share prices of publicly traded additive manufacturing companies, with additional comments on major contracts and other announcements from both public and private companies. Note that these are subject to the latest available data as of May 30, 2025 at 9am EST.
| Company | Ticker | Current Price | MoM % Change | YoY % Change |
| 3D Systems | DDD | $1.59 | -14.1 | -55.7 |
| Materialise | MTLS | $5.40 | 7.1 | 6.7 |
| Nano Dimension | NNDM | $1.57 | -4.8 | -41.0 |
| Stratasys | SSYS | $10.46 | 11.0 | 15.6 |
| Protolabs | PRLB | $37.31 | 6.1 | 22.3 |
| Xometry | XMTR | $32.59 | 29.7 | 112.6 |
| S&P 500 | SPX | $5,903.67 | 6.2 | 12.6 |
Notable shifts in AM share price
Saying that there’s some volatility in the market these days is a bit like saying that there’s some precipitation during a monsoon season. Between tariffs from the United States being enacted, paused, struck-down, upheld, and even imposed on uninhabited islands, this year has been anything but predictable for businesses, including the publicly traded AM companies.
This month marked the release of several Q1 2025 reports from the big AM suppliers, including 3D Systems, Materialise, Stratasys, and Nano Dimension (though the last technically came out at the end of last month). On the provider side, Protolabs and Xometry reported their Q1 2025 financials as well, so let’s take a look at how everyone did and consider the impacts of those reports on their share prices.
| Company | Ticker | Q1 Revenue (USD) | YoY % Change |
| 3D Systems | DDD | $94.5M | -8 |
| Materialise | MTLS | $75.2M | 4.3 |
| Nano Dimension | NNDM | $14.1M | -3.4 |
| Stratasys | SSYS | $136.0M | -5.6 |
| Proto Labs | PRLB | $126.2M | -1.3 |
| Xometry | XMTR | $151.0M | 23 |
First off, a caveat: There are a lot of stats to consider in a quarterly earnings report, many of which are considered unreliable. The advantage of looking at revenue is that it’s a (relatively) straightforward measure of a company’s financial performance, especially when that company has been around for a while. So, what can we infer from the revenue figures and year-over-year changes listed in the table above?
For one, it’s clear that 3D Systems’ relatively poor performance in the first quarter of this year has had a deleterious effect on its share price, with it seeing the biggest annual decline of any of the companies listed above since February. On the other hand, decreasing revenue has just as clearly not impacted every AM supplier equally, with Stratasys notably trending up, likely as a result of the company raising its annual earnings forecast for 2025.
The real stand out in all these figures though is Xometry, which saw both the largest annual increase in revenue and the highest annual increase in share price so far this year. The company’s CEO, Randy Altschuler, attributed this to the growth of Xometry’s “AI-powered” marketplace, which saw a 22% increase in “Active Buyers” and a 27% increase in revenue year-over-year. “Customers are increasingly turning to Xometry to procure manufacturing as our marketplace was purpose-built to provide sourcing options domestically and in 50 countries across the world,” Altschuler said in a press release.
AM business developments
A few other noteworthy events took place in the AM business world over the past month:
- Protolabs appointed a new President and CEO: Suresh Krishna, who previously held the same titles at Northern Tool + Equipment.
- EOS announced a contract to support the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base in the form of training on the company’s L-PBF systems
- Nikon SLM Solutions announced the sale of a large format L-PBF system to ATI and BPMI for hypersonic and naval propulsion development
- Ricoh introduced a new material jetting technology in Japan with a focus on dental applications
- Velo3D announced an agreement with Ohio Ordnance Works to develop 3D printed weapons for the military
3DPTV
You’ve made it this far, so here’s a little treat for the end of our latest column.
Every engineer loves LEGO, so what better way to end this month’s column than with a video from YouTuber Sten, aka Creative Mindstorms. Six years ago, he uploaded the first video to his channel showing a robotic 3D printer made from LEGO, and this month he took another kick at the can with an updated version, which he calls the Ultimate LEGO 3D Printer. Check it out:
That wraps up the latest edition of our Additive Manufacturing Progress Update.
Send your questions, comments or complaints to me at iwright@wtwhmedia.com, and they might just appear in next month’s column.
