The technology in which layers of material are laid down successively under computer control to make a three-dimensional object has an identity crisis. Technical standards, for example ANSI and ISO, call it additive manufacturing (AM). The public, however, overwhelmingly favors 3-D printing, which accurately describes a process that deposits material with inkjet printer heads. For now we prefer the more inclusive additive manufacturing, but we'll use both terms. Here's why:
A Feb. 2 search on Google yielded about 4.4 million results for "additive manufacturing." A search for 3-D printing yielded 91.3 million results.
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