Within the German Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Fraunhofer Alliance Rapid Prototyping
unites the competences of 12 institutes in the field of solid freeform fabrication. Covered
competences are virtual and computer-aided product planning methods and techniques, the
development and integration of materials and processes for different industrial sectors. This
paper presents actual research results on layer manufacturing within the Fraunhofer-
Gesellschaft based on examples from Fraunhofer ILT »Laser Melting - Direct
manufacturing of metal parts with unique properties«, Fraunhofer IFAM »ecoMold - A
novel concept to produce molds for plastic injection molding and pressure die casting« and
Fraunhofer IPT »Quick manufacture, repair and modification of steel molds using
Controlled Metal Build Up (CMB)«.Mechanical Engineerin
