Additive manufacturing trends: 7 technologies transforming industry

Additive manufacturing trends reveal how this technology is entering a new stage. 3D printing is no longer limited to rapid prototyping: new European projects are exploring advanced materials, artificial intelligence, industrial production processes, circularity, clean energy and even tissue bioprinting.

To identify where this technology is heading, we analysed in Kaila the 227 projects related to additive manufacturing approved by the European Commission over the past two years. This allows us to identify the technologies, applications and challenges currently attracting research and innovation efforts.

The analysis reveals a cross-cutting trend: additive manufacturing is converging with other strategic technologies to transform industrial processes.

New materials, sustainability, artificial intelligence and quality control are among the most recurring areas, while applications related to batteries, hydrogen, healthcare, construction and new 3D printing methods also feature prominently.

These are 7 additive manufacturing trends emerging from our analysis of recent European projects.

What is additive manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing encompasses different processes used to produce three-dimensional objects by adding material layer by layer from a digital model.

Unlike traditional methods such as machining, which remove material from an initial workpiece, additive manufacturing deposits material only where it is needed.

Although the term 3D printing is often used synonymously, additive manufacturing encompasses a much broader technological ecosystem. It includes different processes capable of working with metals, polymers, ceramics, composites and biomaterials to produce everything from small components to industrial structures.

Its evolution is also expanding its range of applications.

European research shows how the technology is increasingly being integrated with artificial intelligence, robotics, new materials, control systems, digital twins and advanced industrial processes.

7 additive manufacturing trends shaping European innovation

1. New materials designed for additive manufacturing

Advanced materials are one of the clearest signals emerging from the analysis.

Recurring themes across the projects include alloys, titanium, tungsten, steel, polymers, ceramics, composites, graphene and biomaterials.

Research is not simply seeking to adapt existing materials to 3D printers. An increasingly important trend involves designing materials specifically for additive manufacturing processes.

One example is Ti-ADVANCE – Advancing Titanium Alloy Design for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, which focuses on developing new strategies for designing titanium alloys for additive manufacturing and aerospace applications.

Other projects investigate much more specific areas, ranging from tungsten alloys tailored for electron beam additive manufacturing to zirconia composites for medical implants.

The combination of materials science and additive manufacturing is enabling the development of components with increasingly specialised mechanical, thermal, electrical and biological properties.

This marks the beginning of a new stage in which it is not only the way a component is manufactured that is evolving: the material used to manufacture it is evolving too.

Additive manufacturing and sustainability

2. Towards more sustainable and circular additive manufacturing

Sustainability is another major additive manufacturing trend.

Among the projects analysed, we found numerous references to concepts such as sustainable, circular, recycling, waste, resource efficient, green and bio-based.

This trend goes far beyond the reduction in waste commonly associated with 3D printing.

New projects are investigating how recycled materials, secondary raw materials, industrial waste and bio-based materials can be incorporated into manufacturing processes.

The REPAM – Resource efficient materials for Additive Manufacturing project, for example, is working on new strategies to improve material efficiency.

Meanwhile, DIAMETER – Demonstration of a sustainable circular-by-design manufacturing system based on additive manufacturing directly addresses the development of a manufacturing system based on circular-by-design principles.

Other projects are exploring highly specific solutions, such as transforming waste from the agri-food industry into materials suitable for 3D printing.

The trend points towards an important shift: circularity is beginning to be incorporated into the design of materials and manufacturing processes themselves, rather than being addressed only at the end of a product’s useful life.

Artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing

3. AI and predictive manufacturing: towards zero-defect production

The combination of artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing is another trend that clearly emerges from the analysis.

European projects are using AI, machine learning, sensors and predictive models to address one of the main challenges facing industrial additive manufacturing: achieving reliable and repeatable processes.

Manufacturing a component generates huge amounts of information about temperatures, materials, geometries, speeds and potential anomalies. Analysing this data makes it possible to identify patterns and anticipate problems.

The I-HEAL AM – AI-Driven In-Situ Healing for Zero-Defect Additive Manufacturing project clearly reflects this evolution: it uses artificial intelligence to move towards processes capable of detecting and correcting defects during manufacturing itself.

Other projects are investigating predictive control, process optimisation using machine learning, and the prediction of the behaviour and fatigue of manufactured components.

The aim is to move away from a model based primarily on inspecting the finished component towards one in which the system can monitor, predict and adjust the process while it is taking place.

AI could therefore become a fundamental technology for making additive manufacturing more reliable on an industrial scale.

4. From prototyping to scalable industrial production

For many years, 3D printing was closely associated with rapid prototyping.

It allowed manufacturers to quickly create a component, test its design and modify it before moving on to traditional manufacturing systems.

Now, one of the major research goals is to take the next step: using additive manufacturing to produce final components at industrial scale.

Terms related to production, scalability, factories, industrial processes, high-speed manufacturing and large-scale production appear repeatedly among the projects analysed.

One example is ASPIRE – Additive manufacturing for Scalable battery Pack Industrial Right-first-time manufacturing in Europe, which applies these technologies to the industrial production of battery packs.

The expression right-first-time summarises one of today’s major challenges: manufacturing a component correctly on the first attempt.

To achieve this, industry needs to improve the speed, repeatability, automation, certification and quality control of its processes.

The future of industrial additive manufacturing therefore depends on more than simply developing more advanced printers. It also requires the integration of materials, software, sensors, automation and control systems into complete production processes.

Additive manufacturing for the energy transition

5. Batteries, hydrogen and clean energy technologies

Our analysis of European projects reveals another particularly interesting trend: the growing connection between additive manufacturing and energy.

Batteries, hydrogen, fuel cells, solar power and marine energy are among the applications being investigated.

This creates a two-way relationship between additive manufacturing and the green transition.

On the one hand, research is developing more efficient and circular manufacturing processes. On the other, additive manufacturing itself is being used to develop the technologies needed for the energy transition.

The ASPIRE project, for example, applies additive manufacturing to battery pack components for electric vehicles.

Other projects are investigating advanced manufacturing of components to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production, while some initiatives are exploring large-scale 3D printing to develop systems related to wave energy.

Particularly innovative technologies are also emerging.

3DCOMPASS – Revolutionizing Solid-State Lithium Battery Manufacturing through Xolography Volumetric 3D Printing explores volumetric 3D printing using xolography to transform the manufacture of solid-state lithium batteries.

Additive manufacturing is therefore becoming an enabling technology for developing new designs, components and materials for clean energy technologies.

3D printing and healthcare

6. Personalised healthcare, implants and 3D bioprinting

The healthcare sector is home to some of the most advanced applications of additive manufacturing.

The projects analysed include references to implants, biomaterials, tissues, bone structures, stem cells, corneas and bioprinting.

One of the main advantages of these technologies is their ability to manufacture components tailored to highly specific requirements.

This is particularly relevant in medicine, where anatomical characteristics vary from patient to patient.

Some European projects, for example, are investigating personalised orthopaedic solutions combining AI-driven design with 3D printing. Others are developing new materials for implants or structures tailored to specific medical applications.

However, research is progressing even further.

Print4Life – Advanced Research Training for Additive Manufacturing of the Biomaterials and Tissues of the Future is exploring new possibilities in biomaterials and tissues.

Other projects are studying the production of corneas using 3D printing and stem cells, or volumetric printing technologies applied to tissue engineering.

Some research even aims to control the behaviour of cells themselves during the bioprinting process.

The trend is therefore evolving from the manufacture of personalised medical devices towards the production of increasingly complex biological structures.

New 3D printing technologies

7. Volumetric printing, multi-material manufacturing and new processes

The final trend concerns the printing technology itself.

3D printing is not a single process. The concept of additive manufacturing encompasses numerous technologies that use different energy sources, materials and methods to build a component.

Recent European projects show significant activity around processes such as:

• volumetric 3D printing;
• xolography;
• laser powder bed fusion;
• directed energy deposition;
• electron beam additive manufacturing;
• light-based printing;
• multi-material printing;
• ultrasound-based volumetric printing.

Volumetric printing is particularly interesting because it changes one of the traditional principles of additive manufacturing.

Rather than necessarily building an object layer by layer, some technologies seek to form three-dimensional structures within a volume of material, potentially reducing production times considerably for certain applications.

At the same time, multi-material manufacturing makes it possible to combine different materials within a single component to achieve different properties in specific areas.

This evolution could result in components that simultaneously integrate structural, thermal, electrical or biological properties.

It is therefore not only the products manufactured using 3D printing that are changing. The technologies used to manufacture them are also evolving rapidly.

Where is additive manufacturing heading in Europe?

Our analysis of the 227 European projects approved over the past two years reveals a common pattern.

Additive manufacturing is no longer evolving as an isolated technology.

Its development is increasingly connected to materials science, artificial intelligence, sustainability, automation, energy and biotechnology.

The projects also demonstrate growing interest in overcoming the barriers that still hinder industrial adoption: speed, scalability, repeatability, cost, materials, certification and quality control.

The main additive manufacturing trends can be summarised in seven areas:

1. New materials specifically designed for additive manufacturing.
2. Circularity and sustainability integrated into materials and processes.
3. Artificial intelligence to predict, control and reduce defects.
4. Industrial scalability to move from prototyping to production.
5. Energy applications involving batteries, hydrogen and clean technologies.
6. Personalisation and bioprinting for new healthcare applications.
7. New printing technologies, from volumetric processes to multi-material manufacturing.

Rather than replacing traditional manufacturing methods across the board, European projects point towards additive manufacturing becoming increasingly integrated into advanced, digitalised and specialised production systems.

Explore additive manufacturing trends with Kaila

Identifying these trends is only the first step.

With Kaila, you can explore European projects related to additive manufacturing and 3D printing, discover which organisations are developing these technologies and analyse how innovation is evolving in each field.

You can also investigate specific areas such as new materials, bioprinting, batteries, artificial intelligence or circular manufacturing, analyse funded projects and find European funding opportunities related to your interests.

Project data can help you understand not only which technologies exist, but also which areas are receiving funding, who is working on them and where European innovation is heading.

Explore additive manufacturing with Kaila and discover the projects, organisations and opportunities shaping the future of this technology.