Lasers are opening up techniques and wavelengths for additive manufacturing to allow industries from aerospace to automotive to print ever larger metal parts.JAMES SCHLETT, CONTRIBUTING EDITORAerospace and automotive manufacturers initially adopted additive manufacturing (AM) methods as a means to rapidly prototype new parts or to fabricate more complex or consolidated components in a single step. They applied additive manufacturing to polymers, then composites, and eventually to more challenging materials such as metals and ceramics. A green-laser-based directed energy deposition (DED) process builds a thin-walled cylinder from pure copper. Courtesy of TRUMPF. 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