The increasing complexity of technical components and shorter product life cycles make high demands on the flexibility and the efficiency of production processes. Additive manufacturing processes comply with this requirement profile. So far, these methods particularly in the desktop prototyping and manufacturing are common. The undisputed high potential for individual production of small batches by means of additive manufacturing processes is so far due to the low reproducibility of the manufactured components not been fully utilized in terms of a rapid manufacturing. Especially powder- and beam-based additive manufacturing technologies offer in terms of recoverable component strengths with both metallic and polymeric materials have a promising range of applications. The basic scientific study of this process is the goal of the Collaborative Research Centre 814 Additive Manufacturing (SFB 814). In the following article, aims and initial results from the SFB 814 are shown.
