Evaluation of the Support Structure Removal Techniques for Additively Manufactured Ti6AL4V Parts

Table 1

Some AM technologies their need for support structures [11].

AM technologies	Need for support?	The functions of support structure
		For thermal	For printability	For part balance
		Dissipation
Stereolithography (SLA) [70]	Yes	…	√	√
Solid ground curing (SGC) [71]	No	…	…	…
Selective laser sintering (SLS) [72]	Generally no, if yes	√	…	…
Selective laser melting (SLM) [73]	Yes	√	√	√
Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) [74]	Yes	√	…	…
Electron beam manufacturing (EBM) [75]	Yes	√	√	√
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) [76]	Yes	√	√	√
Laser engineered net shaping (LENS) [77]	Yes	√	√	√
Selective laser cladding (SLC) [78]	No	…	…	…
Laminated object manufacturing (LOM) [79]	No	…	…	…
Solid foil polymerization (SFP) [80]	No	…	…	…