Global 4D Printing Market is Expected to Reach US$ 489.2 Mn by 2027

The global 4D printing market was valued at US$ 65.1 Mn in 2020 is expected to reach US$ 489.2 Mn by 2027, with a growing CAGR of 42.1% during the forecast period (2021-2027).

4D printing is expected to play a very important role in the manufacturing process, thus drives the market demand in the coming future

The ability of 4D printed objects to self-transform, allows it to make use of limited resources as it responds to external stimuli, which leads to easier after-use disposition of the object, thereby contributing toward maintaining a sustainable environment.

Rising emphasis on ensuring a sustainable environment is anticipated to fuel the 4D printing market growth over the forecast period. The companies in the 4D printing market have started implementing various strategies to develop the product for the long term. 4D printed product would require lesser manufacturing, transportation, and handling costs, which, in turn, further helps in saving the resources and efforts, thereby sustaining the environment. The printing technology allows programmed material to be 1D or 2D printed and to self-transform into a 3D object according to the embedded program. This growth would further fuel the increasing need to reduce the manufacturing and processing cost and to ensure a sustainable environment.

4D printing is an advanced extension of the 3D printing, and it is widely being adopted across medical, aerospace and defense, automotive, manufacturing among others. The manufacturing industry primarily encounters new challenges, with the rising demand of expensive and high-quality components. Severe persistence has been maintained for ensuring that such components are designed and manufactured with good quality, to endure a variety of service environments. The industry has attracted substantial consideration and has the potential to change the manufacturing and construction processes, thus increases the efficiency of the business which could make the manufacturing processes easier in extreme environment conditions. In addition, the 4D printing market has witnessed a growing demand for resource management, as this technology allows end-users to print objects that self-assemble or reshape themselves over time, that further shows positive trend for areas such as building construction, furniture, and robotics. This further expected to foster the demand of the 4D printing market over the coming years.

Aerospace is expected to witness high growth high growth rate followed by the military & defense segment, holding a market share of over 25% by 2027. The space memory technique which is being used in 4D printing would help in forming a self-deploying structure, which is applicable in the aerospace segment; for instance, to create air ventilation. Furthermore, Airbus S.A.S. has developed a technology to cool its engines using smart material that reacts to temperature. The 4D printed parts can change their shape and size according to the environmental factors, owing to which they are primarily being adopted across diverse set of industries.

Key players in the market include Autodesk, Stratasys, MIT Self-Assembly Lab, ExOne Co., Hewlett Packard Corp., 3D Systems Corporation, Materialise NV, Organovo Holdings, Inc.

Key Findings:

• Aerospace is anticipated to follow the military & defense sector, holding a market share of over 30.5% by 2027
• Programmable wood and programmable textiles are both anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 35%% over the coming years
• The U.S. Army Research Centre is planning to come up with the new technologies, such as a soldier’s uniform that primarily protect them against toxic gases effectively or alter its own camouflage while traveling
• Airbus S.A.S. is planning to develop a new technology that can cool its engine by using smart material that can react to temperature

Recent News:

• In January 2019, Autodesk has developed the new generative design software, that primarily work with the HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers. It has been specially designed for additive manufacturing for HP’s 3D printers, with the goal of streamlining the conversion of digital design to the physical part. In addition, the company is also working with GE Additive for developing an integrated workflow for GE 3D printer, that will further be led to the advancement in 4D printing techniques.
• US- based Autodesk in December 2018 launched ADAPT, which is an additive manufacturing consortium that identifies visionary research, scalable education platforms, actionable strategic insights, and academic-industry ecosystem as the basis of its platform.