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The sci-fi author, Arthur C. Clarke, was the first to describe the basic functions of a 3D printer back in 1964.
The first 3D printer was released in 1987 by Chuck Hull of 3D Systems and it was using the "stereolithography" (SLA) process.
In the 90's and 00's other 3D printing technologies were released, including https://www.3dhubs.com/guides/3d-printing/#fdm by Stratasys and SLS by 3D Systems. These printers were expensive and mainly used for industrial prototyping.
In 2009, the ASTM Committee F42 published a document containing the standard terminology on Additive Manufacturing. This established 3D printing as an industrial manufacturing technology.
In the same year, the patents on FDM expired and the first low-cost, desktop 3D printers were born by the RepRap project. What once cost $200,000, suddenly became available for below $2,000.
According to Wohlers the adoption of 3D printing keeps growing: more than 1 million desktop 3D printers were sold globally between 2015 and 2017 and the sales of industrial metal printers almost doubled in 2017 compared to the previous year.
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It is important to understand that 3D printing is a rapidly developing technology. It comes with its unique set of advantages, but also lags behind traditional manufacturing in some ways.
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In formative manufacturing (think Injection Molding and think Injection Molding and Metal Casting) each part requires a unique mold. These custom tools come at a high price (from thousands to hundreds of thousands each). To recoup these costs identical parts in the thousands are manufactured.
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Large range of (speciality) materials
The most common 3D common 3D printing materials used materials used today are plastics. Metal 3D printing finds also an increasing number of industrial applications.
The 3D printing pallet also includes speciality materials with properties tailored with properties tailored for specific applications. 3D printed parts today can have high heat resistance, high strength or stiffness and even be biocompatible.
Composites are also common in 3D printing. The materials can be filled with metal, ceramic, wood or carbon particles, or reinforced or reinforced with carbon fibers. This results in parts with unique properties suitable for specific applications.
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Because of this, plastic 3D printed parts are most often used for non-critical functional applications. DMLS & SLM though can produce metal 3D printed parts with excellent mechanical properties (often better than the bulk material). For this reason, they have found applications in the most demanding industries, like aerospace.
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Printed parts are rarely ready to use off the printer. They usually require one or more postmore post-processing steps.
For example, support removal is needed in most 3D printing processes. 3D printers cannot add material on thin air, so supports are so supports are structures that are printed with the part to add material under an overhang or to anchor the printed part on the build platform.
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Optisys LLC is a provider of micro-antenna products for aerospace and defense applications. They used metal 3D printing to reduce the number of discrete pieces of their tracking antenna arrays from 100 to only 1. With this simplification, Optisys managed to reduce the lead time from 11 to 2 months, while achieving a 95% weight reduction.Read the full story in the 3D Printing Handbook →
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Automotive
The automotive industry has benefited greatly from the fast turnaround and the ease of customization offered by 3D printing.
Volkswagen traditionally used CNC machining to create custom jigs and fixtures. CNC has typically longer production times and higher cost. The same jigs and fixtures could be 3D printed overnight and tested on the assembly line the next day. Feedback from the operators was incorporated almost immediately and a new jig was ready to test the next day until the perfect tool was created.Read the full story in the 3D Printing Handbook →
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Robotics
In the field of robotics & automation, custom one-off parts are very often needed to develop new robotic mechanisms. 3D printing has evolved into one of the main manufacturing technologies of this industry, because of its speed, great design freedom and ease of customization. The large range of material options with unique properties, also allows the creation of unique structures, such as "soft" robots.
A team of engineering students from the University of Antwerp built a humanoid robotic arm that can translate speech into sign language and they used 3D printing almost exclusively to manufacture all custom structural parts of their robot.Read the full story →
Industrial tooling
The development of new 3D printing materials with high heat resistance and stiffness, combined with the ability to create custom parts quickly and at a low cost, pushed 3D printing to find multiple applications around industrial tooling.
For example, 3D printing is used today to manufacture low-run injection molds. These molds are used to produce a few hundred parts (compared to the 10,000+ of metal molds), but come at a fraction of the cost of a "traditional" mold and can be manufactured overnight. This makes them ideal for low-volume, low-cost production or small tests runs before full scale manufacturing.
Healthcare
Did you know that today in the US hearing aids are manufactured almost exclusively using 3D printing? In fact, the companies that did not adopt the technology, very fast when out of business, as they could not keep up with the competition.
The healthcare and prosthetics field has benefited greatly by adopting 3D printing. Custom shapes, such as hearing aids, no longer need to be made through manual labor. With 3D printing, they can be manufactured quickly from a digital file (by 3D scanning the patient's body, for instance). This brings substantially lower costs and lower production times.
Product design
With the help of 3D printing, product designers can easily customize their products at no extra costs. They can also create high-quality functional prototypes for a new product concept. This accelerates the design cycle and proves that their product idea works before a larger investment is made.
For example, Paul Kohlhaussen designed and created a functional prototype of his ultimate camera. He combined camera parts from different models and merged them together with a custom 3D printed body. He then took his idea to Kickstarter to succesfuly get funding for his project.
Entertainment
3D printing is one of the favorite tools of movie makers today, due to its ability to create believable props. The high design flexibillity of 3D printing helps entertainment professionals bring to life objects of their imagination. This can now be done quickly and at a much lower cost than the past.
One example comes from Vitaly Bulgarov, a concept designer whose resume includes working with movie studios like Paramount and Dreamworks. He used 3D printing to quickly turn his computer sketches into a usable physical objects for a film he was working on.
Education
The 3D printing technology has great potential in educational environments. With 3D printing, the course subjects can be brought to life through scaled replicas. This equips the students with practical (and very valuable) real-life experience.
Aerospace engineering students from the University of Glasgow worked together with Rolls Royce to create a functional 3D printed jet engine model. The model gives instant feedback to the students about changes they make during it operation, helping them gain very valuable practical experience.Read the full story →
Makers
For makers that constantly explore new ideas, 3D printing is the perfect tool. One of its key benefits is the ability to produce unlimited spare parts and new designs without relying on external vendors. They can develop and customize their designs enabling them to create new and better concepts.
Jack Davies, for example, is a product design student from Nottingham Trent University. He created his own electric skateboard using 3D printed parts. His boosted board has capabilities comparable to a commercially available electric skateboards, but for about a third of the price.Read the full story →
3D printing vs. Traditional Manufacturing
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