Advanced 3D Printing Technology

Rapid Prototyping and 3D printing 3D printing isn’t new technology by any means —it has been around for about 30 years. But, in recent years, it has become widely used and readily available. The technology affects almost every sector with new and innovative solutions to complex problems. New vehicles can be built and tested quickly by means of rapid prototyping —a process where a computer aided design (CAD) file is used to 3D print the object—and can be ready to test on the road quickly, all completed at low cost to the company. This is great for the automotive industry, which is known for wasting a staggering amount of money on the design and manufacturing of cars. Rapid prototyping joined with low-volume manufacturing—ordering and building only what you need, as you need it—could save the auto industry insurmountable costs, removing the need for assembly lines and purchasing heaps of parts. There are a magnitude of ways in which these manufacturing processes could hel...

What is 3D printing? 3D printing is the creation of a three dimensional object from a digital design by adding materials layer after layer or solidifying. 3D printing allows the construction of objects of any geometrical form or figure from a digital file. The digital file acts as the blueprint that we use in engineering designs. 3D printing empowers us to create complex functional sculptures in lesser time and using fewer materials than required in the traditional forms of structure development. The principle that 3D printing works on is the additive manufacturing principle, in which a form or sculpt is created by adding layers and layers of material until the desired object is attained. These successive layers are visible as thinly sliced cross sections in the finished product achieved through 3D printing. History of 3D printing The traditional methods used for manufacturing, since ages, were more based on subtractive methods. In the subtractive method, the design was deriv...