Abstract
The concept of “Industry 4.0” encourages the use of automated manufacturing processes and the use of advanced technological systems. Some of the most fundamental needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can only be met with the help of additive manufacturing. However, the mechanical behavior and reliability of additive-manufactured components are hardly recognized. This paper provides a systematic review of metal additive manufacturing technologies, materials, lattice structures, and fatigue properties as well as the development of numerical simulations. The current state of development in metal alloys and the optimization of cellular structures were presented. In addition, this paper discussed the main challenges in numerical simulation methods, their validation with experimental results, and the limitations of commercial software used. Overall, this paper provides an overview of metal additive manufacturing as well as a survey of its simulation software development to optimize several parameters in industrial and academic research fields. The results were critically analyzed and provided a benchmark for future research and development.