Further, the emergence of big data and artificial intelligence is changing how we interact with the world. Computers and the internet have revolutionized how we share information and how we interact with each other (often referred to as the third industrial revolution or “Industry 3.0” when combined with robotics). Commentators often refer to this as the fourth industrial revolution or “Industry 4.0.” As with the historical industrial revolutions of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, multiple factors have contributed to the current disruption in industry and society. The world is currently witnessing a modern industrial revolution take place. The fabrication of higher-melting-point metals and alloys and the printing of free-standing metal objects has provided further motivation for the research and development of liquid metal printing. The impetus for development of liquid metal printing was the precise, and often small scale, jetting of solder alloys for microelectronics applications. Printing techniques include metal droplet generation by piezoelectric actuation or impact-driven, electrostatic, pneumatic, electrohydrodynamic (EHD), magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) ejection, or droplet generation by application of a high-power laser. Several techniques are in various stages of development from laboratory testing, prototyping, to full commercialization. Two different printing modes, continuous and drop-on-demand (DOD), exist for liquid metal printing and are based on commercial inkjet printing technology. The various printing modes and droplet generation techniques as applied to liquid metals are discussed. This review focuses on the current state of the art in liquid metal additive manufacturing (AM), an emerging and growing family of related printing technologies used to fabricate near-net shape or fully free-standing metal objects.
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