The aerospace industry relies on highly specialized, custom-engineered components that can withstand extreme environments. Traditionally, manufacturing these parts requires complex tooling, expensive molds, and intricate, multistep supply chains, which are susceptible to global disruptions. However, the emerging field of additive manufacturing offers a resilient solution to these production challenges by allowing parts to be manufactured on demand and without the need for traditional molds and machine tooling.

Among the various AM techniques, robocasting involves extruding a thick paste called the feedstock from a syringe into layers that are stacked and fused together to create a solid part. This technique is advantageous for prototyping and decentralized manufacturing purposes because no molds are necessary, thus allowing samples to be made quickly and easily.¹