Overview of 3D printing technologies for reverse engineering product design

With the rapid development of computer and information automatics, advanced manufacturing technologies (such as numerical control technology and computer-aided manufacturing) have been invented and matured. In the face of fierce competition in the international market of 21st century, high-tech application becomes one of the main battle fields. In recent years, reverse engineering technology has developed rapidly, through which the digital computer-aided design (CAD) models of products can be obtained rapidly and accurately; in association with optimization design, computer aided design and finite element analysis, reverse engineering technology significantly improves the development efficiency of new products. As one of the representative technologies of the third industrial revolution, three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is adopted in reverse engineering to realize rapid manufacturing of products in a lot of fields; in addition, 3D printing is gradually penetrating into each link of product design, attracting more and more attention from industrial and investment communities. © 2016, Allerton Press, Inc.