Granular Powders
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3D-PRINTING
TYPES
Binding Powder

BINDING
Powder-binding printers use inkjet sprays to apply a rapidly solidified binder to the powder bed, creating the new solid object from this sprayed glue and the base powder material. When the entire model is complete, the unused powder is removed and
recovered for reuse.
Plastic-powder objects remain granular, so they can easily be crushed unless they're dipped in a resin that fills the spaces between the granules. For metal and glass casting, the resulting "solid" shapes are stabilized by heating them to fuze the binder and powder. The simple metal powder can be infused with additional liquid metals (such as bronze) to create a stronger alloy or more pleasing appearance.
Because the powder bed supports the solidified bound material, this type of production allows you to create large, complex designs without concern that thinner elements will break apart during fabrication.

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Blown Powder

BLOWING
Producing a single unique design (called a one-off) or another limited-production run for a specialty product, such as those used in racing, medical, and space technologies, can be costly in traditional manufacturing. Because the same mold or tooling is used only a few times, or possibly once, no opportunities exist for efficiencies of scale that bring down per-item costs in mass manufacturing.
Digital manufacturing allows updates in the middle of a production cycle without the need to retool the production line. When the digital model is modified and uploaded to the 3D printer, all future items include the change automatically.
EOS examples: Barack Obama ("the potential to revolutionize almost everything"), Elon Musk ("I believe we are on the verge of the major break thru, in designing manufacturing") and EOS founder Hans J. Langer (interviewed by Denis Berman, The Wall Street Journal); how DMLS works, and Automation of the entire industrial process (in cooperation with Daimler).


EOS Additive Manufacturing - DMLS - Perspectives from GE and SpaceX

3D Printing The Key To Digital Manufacturing (Hans J. Langer, EOS & Dennis Berman, WSJ) | DLD17

Industrial 3D printing of complex metal parts (DMLS) with EOS M 100

Automation of the entire industrial 3D printing process
Another technique, popular for plastics, metals, and even ceramics, relies on granular powders. This technology has been used to create large objects, such as James Bond's car in Skyfall, as well as flexible artwork such as 3D-printed dresses.
The granules can be solidified in a variety of ways:
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Binding the granules with bonding materials such as glues
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Sintering (combining powders by heating them below their melting point)
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Melting (combining powders by heating them above their melting point to create a full melt pool of material, using a laser or electron beam to provide the energy necessary to fuse the powder only where the final object needs to be)

3D Printed Aston Martin, James' Bond car
Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9712435/The-names-Printing-3D-Printing..html
What are "granual materials" in general?