Review, Analysis, and Classification of 3D Printing Literature: Types of Research and Technology Benefits

This paper presents a review, analysis and classification about 3D printing. Through the CAPES Sucupira platform, 124 articles with a high degree of relevance published between the years 2014 and 2018 were selected. Each of these articles was classified by means of 9 categories: study types, affiliation, approach, origin of the study, geographic scope, unit of analysis, scope, benefits and negative points. Through the results obtained, it was verified that the number of articles on 3D printing is increasing every year, which indicates its importance and popularity. Most of the time, scientific research is conducted and led by people connected to universities in Europe, Asia and the Americas. And finally, the number of citations related to the benefits of 3D printing are greater than the number of citations on the negative points of the process.