Dublin, Jan. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "3D Printing Materials 2017-2027: Status, Opportunities, Market Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report covers the current status and future opportunities of materials for 3D printing. It contains many illustrative and analytical figures and tables plus profiles of 29 companies, from across the globe, who supply a wide variety of materials for 3D printing.

Gone are the days of 3D Printing being synonymous with Rapid Prototyping; the days of Additive Manufacturing are here.

XYZPrinting have become a market leader by selling very large numbers of cheap printers. They operate on a vendor lock-in model, so their revenue from materials will be large and the price will hold steady. The market for thermoplastic filament is expected to reach over $6.6 billion by 2026.

This new interest inspired developments in many technologies to 3D print a wider variety of materials. A brief overview of each of these technologies is outlined in this report. This report outlines the advantages and disadvantages of printing in different materials, the applications of each, and technical data on the properties of 3D printed materials, which often differ from their traditionally manufactured analogue.

These new materials mean there has been space for many new companies, and also many acquisitions by 3D printer manufacturers. Information on start-ups, closures, mergers and acquisitions is included.

No longer is 3D Printing used only for one-off pieces and prototypes, but for final part production of items with reduced and simplified assembly, quicker design iterations, greater design freedom, mass customisation and minimal material wastage. For these reasons, 3D Printing is already common in aerospace, orthopaedic, jewellery and dental sectors. Adoption is fast-growing in education, oil and gas, military, architecture, and medical research sectors.

This massive growth in the use and applications of 3D Printers is encouraging a massive growth in the market for 3D Printing Materials. Detailed forecasts, using information from interviews with 90 key players in the industry and disclosed financial information, estimate key materials are expected to have a total market of over $24 billion by 2027.

This report includes detailed state of the market, in terms of market value and volume, for:

• Photopolymers
• Thermoplastic filaments
• Thermoplastic powders
• Metal powders

The value chain for 3D printing materials is complicated because several major industrial printer manufacturers engage in "vendor lock-in" in a way analogous to 2D printers, but cheaper 3D printers allow the purchase of free market materials.

The chapter on the value chain clarifies the situation, and quantifies the markets at each stage of the chain. There are separate price projections and forecasts for these two approaches and for different end-user behaviours.

The report also includes discussions on developments for emerging materials including:

• Welding Wire
• Binders for metals, sand or plaster
• Metallic thermoplastic filaments
• Platinum-based Metallic Glass
• Gallium-Indium Alloy
• Ceramics
• Biomaterials
• Conductive thermoplastic filaments
• Conductive inks
• Conductive pastes
• Conductive photopolymers
• Graphene
• Carbon Fibre
• Silicone
• Regolith
• Wood
• Glass

This report gives financial data and forecasts to 2027 including:

• Materials market forecast by value
• Thermoplastics market forecast by value
• Photopolymers market forecast by value
• Materials market forecast by mass
• Thermoplastics market forecast by mass
• Photopolymers market forecast by mass

Key Topics Covered:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1. Executive Summary
1.2. Advantages of 3D Printing
1.3. Printing processes and material compatibility
1.4. Future of 3D printing by application
1.5. Value chains: vendor lock-in
1.6. Value chains: free market materials
1.7. Revenue from 3D Printing Materials in 2016
1.8. Forecast by Revenue
1.9. Forecast by mass

2. INTRODUCTION
2.1. 3D Printing is...
2.2. Advantages of 3D Printing
2.3. The cost of complexity
2.4. Drivers
2.5. A brief history of 3D printing

3. OVERVIEW OF 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES
3.1. Printing processes and material compatibility
3.2. Alternative Naming of Technologies
3.3. Summary of Plastic Printing
3.4. Summary of Metal Printing

4. PHOTOPOLYMERS
4.1. Photopolymers
4.2. Acrylates vs Epoxies
4.3. Applications of 3D Printed Photopolymers
4.4. Photopolymers - Key Players
4.5. Properties of Commercially Available Photopolymers
4.6. Forecast for Photopolymers

5. THERMOPLASTIC FILAMENT
5.1. Thermoplastic Filament
5.2. Available Polymers
5.3. Why isn't PP commonly 3D printed?
5.4. New fillers for thermoplastic filaments
5.5. Elastomeric Filaments
5.6. Support material
5.7. Applications of 3D Printed Thermoplastic Filament
5.8. Thermoplastic Filament - Key Players
5.9. Thermoplastic Filament - Chemical Suppliers
5.10. Properties of Objects 3D Printed from Thermoplastic Filament
5.11. Forecast Thermoplastic Filament Sales

6. THERMOPLASTIC POWDER
6.1. Thermoplastic Powders
6.2. Applications of 3D Printed Thermoplastic Powders
6.3. Thermoplastic Powders - Key Players
6.4. Polymers Offered by Thermoplastic Powders Suppliers
6.5. Comparison of two most commonly 3D Printed Thermoplastic Powders
6.6. SLS of TPU
6.7. Forecast Thermoplastic Powder Sales

7. METAL POWDERS
7.1. Metal Powders
7.2. 3D Printable Metals
7.3. Powder Requirements
7.4. Metal Powders - Key Players
7.5. Alloys Available from Metal Powder Suppliers
7.6. Applications of 3D Printed Metal Powders
7.7. Powders for Metal + Binder
7.8. Forecast Metal Powder Sales

8. OTHER WAYS TO 3D PRINT METALS
8.1. Welding Wire
8.2. Sand + Binder
8.3. Proto-pasta Metallic PLA Filament
8.4. Platinum-based Metallic Glass
8.5. Gallium-Indium Alloy
9. CERAMICS
9.1. Ceramics
9.2. SLA
9.3. Paste extrusion
9.4. Filled Thermoplastic Filaments
9.5. Binder Jetting
9.6. SLM
9.7. Blown Powder

10. BIOMATERIALS
10.1. Market
10.2. Syringe-based bioprinting
10.3. Extrusion-based bioprinting
10.4. ROKIT - Edison Invivo 3D bioprinter
10.5. Organovo
11. CONDUCTIVE MATERIALS
11.1. Electrically Conducting Materials
11.2. Functional materials
11.3. Metals
11.4. Conductive thermoplastic filaments
11.5. Conductive inks
11.6. Conductive pastes
11.7. Conductive photopolymers
11.8. Graphene

12. EMERGING MATERIALS
12.1. Carbon Fibre
12.2. Silicone
12.3. Regolith
12.4. Wood
12.5. Glass

13. DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
13.1. Thermoplastic Recycling
13.2. Selective Deposition Lamination
13.3. Faster vat photopolymerisation
13.4. LCD stereolithography 3D Printing

14. MARKETS
14.1. Markets for 3D Printing
14.2. Future of 3D printing by application

15. VALUE CHAINS
15.1. Value chains: vendor lock-in
15.2. Value chains: free market materials
15.3. The evolution of value chains

16. STATE OF THE MARKET
16.1. Methods and Assumptions
16.2. Three Behaviours of Thermoplastic Filament Consumption
16.3. Falling prices for free-market materials
16.4. Revenue from 3D Printing Materials in 2017
16.5. Overall market breakdown in 2017 ($M)
16.6. Thermoplastics market in 2017
16.7. Photopolymers market in 2017
16.8. Metals market in 2017
16.9. 3D Printing Industry Split by Application in 2017
17. FORECASTS
17.1. Materials market forecast by value
17.2. Thermoplastics market forecast by value
17.3. Photopolymers market forecast by value
17.4. Materials market forecast by mass
17.5. Thermoplastics market forecast by mass