JOURNAL OF BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF POSTS AND TELECOM ›› 2016, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (4): 77-85.

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#br# Technology Forecasting of 3D Printing Industry#br# ——Based on Main Path Analysis of Patent

  

  1. 1 School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing
    100876, China;2 School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Received:2016-03-29 Online:2016-08-31

Abstract:

As an emerging industry, 3D printing industry has gained much attention in recent years 3D printing technology has been developing fast via different paths in various fields, so its technological focus and trends deserve in-depth exploration Therefore, the 3D printing technology evolution and forecasting analysis is conducted via main path analysis of patent Based on patent documents of 3D printing technology whose priority year is from 1960 to 2013, this paper divides 3D printing technology into three development phases by combining technology life cycle analysis Through using Ucinet and Pajek, the main paths of 3D printing technology in different stages are analyzed The results reveal that patents of 3D printing technology at present are mainly concentrated in the 3D printing methods, equipment and related technology, but have begun to study the application of this technique in biological tissue engineering, etc.

Key words:  technology evolution, technology forecasting, 3D printing technology, patent citation, main path analysis

CLC Number: