Being able to print with reinforcement materials has been a goal of a

number of startups in the 3D printing sector. In recent years we have

noticed a growing number of machines and technologies being launched
on the market to enable new applications, especially in industrial sectors
such as aerospace and automotive.
Essentially, the technology varies according to the type of composite we
are talking about. Short fiber composites can be extruded in the
normal FDM process since the filament already contains the fiber. On the
other hand, continuous fiber 3D printing is a trickier process that requires
two nozzles to print at the same time. Usually, one nozzle will extrude the
thermoplastic and the other the fiber. Different manufacturers market their
technology under different names, however the idea is more or less the
same.

On the left you can see short fibers, which consist of segments less than a millimeter in length. On the
right the  filament has been reinforced by these short fibers. | Credits: Markforged

For example, Markforged calls it Continuous Filament Fabrication (CFF),

whilst Anisoprint calls it Composite Fiber Coextrusion (CFC). More recently,
Desktop Metal also joined the race to meet demand for this technology by
launching a new system called Fiber. Fiber uses Micro Automated Fiber
Placement (μAFP), which also relies on two printheads to continuously
reinforce the thermoplastic being extruded. An interesting technology
is AREVO’s proprietary process based on Directed Energy
Deposition technology, in which a laser is used to heat the filament and
carbon fiber at the same time as a roller compresses the two together.
Impossible Objects and EnvisionTEC have also added systems for
continuous fiber 3D printing to their range of machines, the technology
however differs a bit. They weave in sheets of carbon fiber into a print by
using a lamination process. Last but not least, Continuous Composites
uses a hybrid technology where the strand of fiber is soaked with resin and
then hardened using UV light, similarly to SLA 3D printing.