Tribological Behavior of Additively Manufactured Metal Components

Additive manufacturing (AM) has recently become an increasingly popular form of production due to its advantages over traditional manufacturing methods, such as accessibility, the potential to produce parts with complex geometry, and reduced waste. For the widespread industry adoption of AM components, metal AM has the most potential. The most popular methods of metal AM are powder-based manufacturing techniques. Due to the layer-by-layer nature of AM, the mechanical and tribological properties of an additive manufactured part differs from those of traditionally manufactured components. For the technology to develop and grow further, the tribological properties of AM components must be fully explored and characterized. The choice of material, surface textures, and post-processing methods are shown to have significant impact on friction and wear. Therefore, this paper focuses on reviewing the existing literature with an emphasis on the development of advanced materials for AM applications as well as the optimization of the resulting surface quality via post-processing and presents areas of interest for further examination in this prospective technology.