Holistic review on design for additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) developments over the past three decades have led to the emergence of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) in the mid-2000s. DfAM focuses on optimizing product designs to leverage AM capabilities and considers AM manufacturability. The purpose of this paper is to review and summarize various literature studies using a systematic approach. The review explores DfAM potential, tools, standards, and applications and key insights/inferences are presented. The review presented 14 major DfAM insights and suggested areas for further development. Additionally, the article examines 14 significant DfAM challenges and research gaps, addressing key issues and outlining future research directions. This comprehensive review is confined to DfAM scope, guidelines, principles, and rules, with the aim of aiding designers, researchers, students, and AM machine operators in understanding DfAM potential, scope, and tools.