The Future of 3D Printing Technology

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 derived by removing layers of the excess unwanted material to create the desired shape of the object. 3D printing works on a completely opposite methodology. Instead of removing materials from the cast, it creates the product by adding sequential layers of the material one after the other. The earliest 3D printing process dates back to almost four decades ago. In 1983, “stereo lithography” was invented by Charles Chuck Hull as a patented process. It involved making solid objects by piling printed thin layers of UV light lasers and photopolymers one after another. Initially, only light curable liquids were used by Chuck Hull, but later he experimented with other materials that could solidify or change its physical state. His biggest contribution was the STL – stereo lithography file format and digital slicing that are prevalent and common to many 3D printing processes even today.

The initial 3D printing technology was the SLA (Stereo lithography). Later technologies like FDM (Fused deposition modeling), DLP (Digital Light Processing) and SLS (Selective Laser sintering) were introduced. Until a decade ago, 3 D printing was largely used in industrial areas only. In 2009, the first desktop 3D printer was developed and made available to the public. Since then, the demand for 3D printers has been ever growing. Current day 3D printers are very similar to inkjet printers and function on polyjet and multijet technologies.

Benefits of 3D printing

With new technologies andinnovations hitting the market, people seek mechanisms that allow them to complete their tasks with minimum hassles and in minimum time. 3D printing caters to this requirement to the fullest. Apart from this, it also has the following benefits:

The complexity of designs: The greatest benefit of 3D printing is that it can create complex and labyrinthine structures that are practically difficult to create using other conventional forms of engineering. 3D printing allows the development of designs of any geometrical form – either symmetric or asymmetric.

Customisation: 3D printing allows unlimited customisation. There is no limit to the scope of the design. Moreover, altering the design is quite convenient and easy as only certain changes are required to be made in the digital file for creating the new customized design. No additional tools or processes are required in the same.

Limited resource requirements: 3D printing is a single tool process. It does not involve the use of multiple equipment and processes. As such the production cost falls down by and large. As a result of this, the product can be made available to the users at a lower cost due to the economic viability of the production methods.

Speed: Since the resources and processes used in 3D printing techniques are limited, it consumes less time during production. The digital file can be generated in a couple of hours or a couple of days. And a large number of prints can be made using the file in much lesser time frame than used by other traditional manufacturing processes.

Prototyping: 3D print allows rapid prototyping of the object using CAD or computer aided designs. The results are more effective and productive. 3D printing is considered one of the smartest and fastest way to create prototypes. It is highly practical and convenient for creating products for market testing by business houses. For more details visit 3D Printin
Different Technologies of 3D printing

Most 3D printing techniques require a CAD file to create the object. This file contains all the necessary information about the structural design of the 3D object. This CAD file is converted to different formats by the printing machine to print the object under the various diverse techniques.

SLA - Stereo lithography - This technology is based on photo polymerisation in which a chain of molecules are linked together to form polymers using light. These polymers then join to form the shape of a 3D object. This process is the earliest known 3D printing process.

FDM – Fused deposition Modelling – The FDM technology was developed by Scott Crump. It is the only 3D printing technique that can create objects with exceptional mechanical, chemical and thermal properties. FDM uses materials like thermoplastic filaments. The layers are supplied with heat from the bottom which makes them bind to one another. It gets hardened as it cools. Comparatively, this technique is more time consuming than SLA.

DLP – Digital Light Processing – DLP is quite similar to SLA and works on the same concept of phot polymers. The material used in DLP is liquid plastic resin. The major difference between DLP and SLA is the source of light which is more conventional like arc lamps in the case of DLP.  It also requires a liquid crystal display panel.

SLS – Selective Laser sintering – SLS uses laser power to create 3D objects. This technology uses powdered material like nylon, ceramics, glass, aluminium, silver, etc. instead of a liquid as in the case of SLAs. Due to the feasibility of using a wide variety of materials in this process, SLS is one of the most popular forms of 3D printing. However, as it requires high powered lasers, the printers are a bit expensive than general 3D printers.

Jetting – Polyjet and multijet modeling – the 3D printers based on jetting methodology work in a fashion similar to inkjet printers. They jet layers of liquid photopolymers and fix them using ultraviolet rays of light. The droplets of liquid photopolymers are cured on the instant passing of Ultra Violet light and form layers which then accumulate to create definite 3D objects.

Apart from these, there are many other techniques of 3D printing like LOM (Laminated Object Monitoring), EBM (Electronic Beam Melting), SLM (Selective Laser Melting), Binder Jetting, etc. The format in which the digital file is incorporated in the 3D printers is different depending on the technique deployed by the printing. The remaining process is more or less the same.

 The Scope of 3D printing

Architecture – 3D printing turns your designing concepts to reality. 3D printing and additive manufacturing can minimise the time, money and effort in developing a house design while catering to the diverse needs of the inmates. As the structure is pre-fabricated, the labour involved in creating the structure also gets lessened quantitatively. 3D printing can definitely change the future of structural designing in the days to come.

Healthcare – 3D printing can play a major role in the healthcare sector. It can prove to be highly significant in recreating anatomical body parts. They can be made to act as a replacement for lost organs or body parts. 3D printing can definitely have a great influence in the field of surgery and healthcare. Many foreign institutes in the field of medical sciences have already started using 3D printers to recreate anatomic body parts to allow students to be able to study these more closely and in a practical manner.

Food and technology – The population of the world is reaching to almost 8 billion. As such, the existing food and agricultural provisions that we own are quite unsustainable. 3D printing can provide the food production technologies a much needed boost to cater to the growing food requirements of the world by producing edible food on a huge scale. Thanks to the recent innovations, 3D printing machines have started printing cooked food very quickly. Many confectionaries, bakeries and commercial scullery have adopted the 3D printing technology for mass production of food whilst saving time and effort.

Transportation – Car designs are one of the fascinating subjects in the world. We all wish to own that one customised car that sets the difference from the crowd. ‘Strati’ is the first car created with 3D print technology. It is a two seater electric car, the first of its kind. Strati is printed from carbon fiber reinforced plastic material.  3D printing makes it possible to develop new car designs in just a couple of days. The future of car designing through 3D printing not only promises to create prototypes but also develop cars that are environment friendly, efficient and swift.

Conclusion

3D printers or three dimensional printers can fit on a desktop and create objects from photopolymers, plastics and almost any other flexible material including metals. Customised houses, cars, home decorations, clothing, medical equipment and almost anything can be designed and created with the assistance of three dimensional printing machines. All you need to start is a digital file!