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The purpose of this work is to explain the emergence of warpage due to a locally and temporally inhomogeneous shrinkage in 3D printing (Binder-Jetting) of polymers.

An analysis of shrinkage yields parameters for a one-dimensional layer model of the binding process. Based on this, residual stresses and deformation are calculated by means of a numerical simulation model.

The simulation supports the assumption that the curling of specimens is created by a force transmission between layers due to inhomogeneous shrinkage. Furthermore, the layered production process might contribute to nonlinear deformations of not horizontally orientated surfaces.

The simulation allows imitating the warping during the manufacturing process qualitatively. Exact values of deformations cannot be predicted, yet.

The results expand the knowledge about warpage effects in 3D printing caused by the layer-wise building process.

The developed model imitates the mechanisms leading to deformations during the 3D printing process, focusing on the physical interaction of layers with each other.

Purpose – Firm acquisitions have been shown to serve as a way to gain access to international markets, technological assets, products or other valuable resources of the target firm. Given this heterogeneity of takeover motivations and the skewness of the distribution of the deal value we show whether and how the importance of different takeover motivations changes along the deal value distribution.

Methodology/approach – On the basis of a comprehensive dataset of 652 European mergers and acquisitions in the period from 1997 to 2003, we use quantile regressions to decompose the deal value at different points of its distribution.

Findings – Our results indicate that the importance of technological assets is higher for smaller target firms while the importance of non-technological assets seems to be higher for larger targets. The findings support the view on small acquisition targets to complement the acquirer's technology portfolio while larger acquisition targets tend to be used to gain access to international markets.

Research limitations/implications (if applicable) – Our findings suggest that the average firm as a reference for study might not be appropriate to address as the size of the target firm influences the value attribution to the target's assets.

Practical implications (if applicable) – Managers in the acquiring firm should be aware that they might overpay for the technological assets of a small firm. However, the acquisition of larger targets requires a well-developed integration strategy.

Originality/value of paper – For the first time, the broad merger motive of technology acquisition has been further qualified according to the size of the target which exhibits a considerable impact.