FDM printers

Hardfacing (FDM/FFF)

— the most common 3D printing technology nowadays. The general principle of this technique is as follows: the working material (thermoplastic) in the form of a thread is fed into the extruder, where it melts due to heating and is printed through a special nozzle of small diameter. If necessary, lines within one layer are laid side by side, forming a continuous surface of the required area; for suspended elements, temporary supports made of the same plastic (or auxiliary material) are used, which are removed after the end of the process.

The popularity of this method is primarily due to the low cost of both the printers themselves and their consumables, which allows such printing to be used in almost all areas — from domestic use to industrial production. In addition, many types of thermoplastics can be used for FDM / FFF, and there is nothing to say about the variety of colours. The disadvantages of this technology include perhaps less accuracy than that of “photopolymer” SLA and DLP, but this point is not critical in most cases.

Note that the common designation for this technology "FDM" is a trademark; to circumvent restrictions on its use, individual manufacturers use the “FFF” label, which has the same meaning in general.