3D Printing & Manufacturing Glossary
Design for Additive Manufacturing
Designing products specifically to take advantage of the unique capabilities of 3D printing.
Heated Bed
A heated print surface that helps the first layer adhere and prevents warping.
Bridging
The ability of a 3D printer to print a flat horizontal surface between two raised points.
Retraction
The movement of pulling the filament back during non-printing moves to prevent oozing.
Micro-Melting
The precise melting of tiny powder particles to create highly detailed parts.
Raft
A flat surface of 3D printed material that helps the part stick to the build plate.
Brim
A single-layer wide skirt attached to the print edges to improve bed adhesion.
Polyether Ether Ketone
A high-performance engineering thermoplastic with excellent thermal and chemical resistance.
Isotropic
Having physical properties that are identical in all directions, common in resin prints.
Computer-Aided Design
The use of computer software to create, modify, and optimize 2D and 3D designs.
Nylon PA12
A strong and durable engineering plastic commonly used in SLS and MJF 3D printing.
Photopolymer
A light-sensitive resin that hardens when exposed to a specific light source, used in SLA/DLP.
Direct Metal Laser Sintering
An additive manufacturing technique for 3D printing metal parts directly from powder.
Functional Prototype
A prototype that looks and functions like the final product for testing and verification.
Surface Finish
The texture and quality of the outer surface of a manufactured part.
Wall Thickness
The thickness of a specific section of a 3D model, crucial for structural integrity.
Stringing
Small, hair-like strands of plastic left behind when the extruder moves between two points.
Tolerance
The allowable limit of variation in the physical dimensions of a manufactured part.
Micron
A unit of measurement (1/1000th of a mm) used to describe the precision and layer height of 3D printers.
Overhang
A part of a 3D model that extends outward beyond the previous layer without direct support.
Shell
The outer layers or perimeter walls of a 3D printed part.
Curing
The process of hardening a resin print using ultraviolet light to achieve its final mechanical properties.
Sintering
The process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by heat or pressure without melting it.
Anisotropy
The quality of having different physical properties when measured in different directions.
Extruder
The part of the 3D printer that feeds and melts the filament for deposition.
Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol
A strong, clear, and chemically resistant filament that is a popular alternative to PLA and ABS.
Thermoplastic Polyurethane
A flexible, rubber-like material with high abrasion resistance and elastic properties.
Nozzle
The tip of the 3D printer’s extruder that deposits the melted material onto the build plate.
Bed Leveling
The process of ensuring the printer’s build plate is perfectly flat and at the correct distance from the nozzle.
Warping
A common 3D printing defect where the edges of the part curl up due to uneven cooling.
STEP File
A high-precision 3D CAD file format widely used for industrial design and manufacturing.
Polylactic Acid
A biodegradable and easy-to-print thermoplastic derived from renewable resources like corn starch.
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
A tough and impact-resistant thermoplastic commonly used for functional industrial parts.
Post-Processing
Any process performed on a 3D printed part after it is removed from the printer, such as sanding or curing.
Infill
The internal structure of a 3D printed part, used to save material and provide strength.
Layer Height
The thickness of each layer of material deposited in a 3D print, determining the resolution.
Support Structure
Temporary structures used to support overhanging or complex parts of a 3D model during printing.
Slicing
The process of converting a 3D model into 2D layers and instructions for the 3D printer.
G-Code
The programming language used to instruct 3D printers on how to move and deposit material.
STL (Stereolithography)
The standard file format used for 3D printing, representing 3D surfaces as a mesh of triangles.
Fused Deposition Modeling
A 3D printing process that uses a continuous filament of a thermoplastic material.
Stereolithography
A 3D printing technology used for creating models with high resolution and surface finish using photopolymerization.
Selective Laser Sintering
An additive manufacturing technique that uses a laser to sinter powdered material into a solid structure.
Multi Jet Fusion
A powder-bed 3D printing technology developed by HP for high-speed industrial manufacturing.
Rapid Prototyping
A group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part using 3D CAD data.