Co-Author: Manuja Bandal
What is 3D Printing?
3D printing is a process of making 3-dimensional objects layer by layer. It is an additive manufacturing process, wherein the material gets added to create an object. Unlike the cutting, milling, drilling, and machining processes, wherein the material is removed to create the object.
Since its inception in the mid-1980s, 3D Printing has come a long way from what was called an expensive, inaccessible manufacturing method to a fairly cheap and easy to learn technique. All thanks to the tremendous amount of work done by amazing people and companies in this period, that we can do 3D printing on the go now.
Advantages of 3D Printing
1. Easy Accessibility
The development of 3 decades made 3D printing accessible even to a person who doesn’t have any technical background. The current generation software and machines are so sophisticated, yet so easy to understand. The use for the end-user is that a figurine artist can now invest more time into designing the figurine on software and print it on a 3D Printer instantly.
2. Faster Product Development
Traditional product development and prototyping included tedious and spendthrift processes that took a lot of time to develop the prototypes. With the use of 3D Printing, prototyping of the development products has never been so easy and quick. With a reduction in product prototyping, we can invest more time in iterations of the design, and a better product can reach the market.
3. Design Freedom
While subtractive manufacturing needs design validation before manufacturing the product, designers need to consider these factors when developing the product. 3D printers can now also do batch manufacturing and on-demand printing using metal powders with no compromise in the strength of the product. Although this may also be true for developing a prototype using 3D printing and for mass manufacturing using conventional techniques.
With almost no constraints in manufacturing using 3D printing, there remains no obstruction for ideas and imagination. Designers can now explore more possibilities with the products, making them more amazing.
4. Making Complex Geometries
We can now produce complex geometries using 3D Printing. Industries in areas like Architecture, Biomedical, Pharmaceutical, Firearms Manufacturing, Jewelry, Prop Making, Rapid Prototyping, and Rapid Manufacturing get highly benefited because of this advantage.
5. Wide Range of Materials
From thermoplastics and polymers like PLA and ABS to dissolvable materials like PVA and HIPS to metal composites, 3D printing allows a variety of materials for use. An artist can comfortably choose the printing material of his/her comfort for the function.
6. Supply Chain Consolidation
Supply Chains are always at a risk of disruption as the manufacturing is becoming more global to save on the cost of mass manufacturing. In the future, this can create problems for the company and fail because of factors beyond its control. Supply Chain Consolidation reduces the Number of Parts in an Assembly of the Product to minimize the risk of failure. 3D Printing helps in a significant reduction of the parts in assembly despite their complexity, by making one part from multiple parts by 3D Printing them as a whole. For example, 3D printing the end-use parts in-house puts the procurement of the part out of the question, and the supply chain becomes more resilient.
7. Less Waste Production
As the name suggests, additive manufacturing adds up material, which produces very less waste material. There is no additional waste production apart from the supports of the part. Processes like SLS do not need extra support. The Parts get supported by the unsintered material present in the tank.
8. Risk Reduction
We can significantly reduce the risk of wastage of time, money, and both physical and intellectual efforts using 3D printing. As technology ensures fast and inexpensive product manufacturing, we can do more iterations without getting worried about these factors.
9. Amature Labour
FDM and DLP 3D Printers do not need a highly skilled person to operate it. With very little information about the machine features, one can start using the printer right away. We can also run 3D Printers using other printing techniques and metal 3D printers too. But it is advised not to do so.
Areas of Application
3D printing has been evolving to see rapid growth in a range of applications in the market. New Business Models are being designed and utilized as the potential and scope of the technology is expanding. Business Models like Print on Demand and Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) are already adopted and established in the industry. Let’s find out which Industries are most benefited by 3D printing technology.
1. Education
Both Educators and Students are extensively using the 3D printed parts for their teaching and learning of the topics that need more visual understanding. Educators are using 3D printed samples of products such as assemblies, different body parts of animals, topographical maps, historical artifacts, etc. for a better understanding of the ideas.
Students in the STEM programs can prototype and test their design projects to develop more viable products and improve the results of the projects using 3D printing. Graphic designing students can now actually see how their product will look in real life and can feel it physically to improvise on the designs before finalizing.
2. Medicine
In recent years 3D printing has put its foot in bioprinting. Bioprinting is the most exciting area of work, having an unimaginable scope of changing the healthcare industry in a big way. Growth factors and cells are 3D printed to imitate tissues in prosthetics. Due to the drastic reduction in the cost of prosthetics using 3D printing, now it is more accessible to the underprivileged parts of society. Using the Binder Jetting process, we can now make tablets. This process also enables us to modify the internal structure of the tablet for better dissolving and digestion.
3. Architecture and Construction
Efficient manufacturing of complex architectural promotion prototypes is now possible using 3D printing, without letting the production be a barrier for architectural plans. Architects can also make figurines to use in the models. First fully 3D Printed liveable home was built in 2017, making it a great invention in life-sized 3D Printed projects. There are cases of 3D printed fully functional bridges that strengthen its confidence in the construction industry.
4. Aerospace
Additive Manufacturing is ideal for Aerospace applications. For various reasons like highly complex geometries of the parts, low volume production, and efficient use of very costly materials with low waste generation. Manufacturing of parts like air ducts, structural metal components, and wall panels takes place using this technology. Apart from that, maintenance and repair of the aircraft parts like turbine blades are happening using processes like Direct Energy Deposition (DED).
5. Defense
The defense industry has a very severe security risk of information and design. By using in-house 3D printers, companies and governments can ensure design secrecy without compromising the quality and sophistication of the products. Production of complicated electronic devices and brackets happens using 3D printing. Some companies and governments are currently working on 3D printed firearms manufacturing.
6. Automotive
Though the automotive industry has somewhat restricted itself to prototyping of the parts for development, there are some remarkable use cases of end-part manufacturing in some companies. Porsche is providing an option of customized seating using polyurethane material and also using 3D printers for spare and aftermarket parts for some rare classic vehicles on demand. Koenigsegg is implementing 3D printed titanium parts like turbo housing, air ducts, exhaust, and interior mirror pieces. Apart from that, Ford Motor Company and BMW are using the technology for tooling purposes.
7. Consumer Goods
Consumer Goods business is always in the hot seats of the buyers, continuously demanding and awaiting new products. Cosmetics, Electronics, Personal Care products, Footwear, Eyewear, Toys, and Bikes are under continuous development. The companies are pushing themselves forever to keep up with the trends. Due to the agility and accessibility of the desktop 3D printers, companies have now stepped up to create more customized products. For example, Adidas is creating a 3D printed shoe, Chanel has manufactured a 3D printed mascara brush, and so on.
8. Industrial Goods
Industrial goods include tooling parts like jigs and fixtures, end-parts like brackets, bearings, etc. Some of the complex applications include sophisticated heat exchangers and turbine blades.
9. Art and Jewelry
The most surprising application of 3D printing is art and jewelry. Being the most creative industry, in terms of the appearance of the products, 3D Printing helps designers to create intriguingly gorgeous products. The latest clay-like material is currently under use to make beautiful artifacts. Even the costumes and wasps in the Theatre industry are using 3D Printing. Also, for cinematography purposes, 3D Printed parts are under application.
The Jewelry Industry is experiencing a tremendous transformation in the way it is producing jewelry. In the current phase, Jewellers are printing Investment Casting patterns for their advantage over the conventional pricey and constrained design patterns. Some of the companies are a step forward, and 3D Print the jewelry using precious metal powders.
Future of 3D Printing
Although everybody will agree to the quite promising and bright future of 3D printing, it won’t hold for every technology and application which comes under the 3D Printing vertical. For example, the FDM 3D Printers will have restrictions on the operation, in terms of velocity and acceleration. And the application in terms of the strength of the material and surface finish of the product. The DLP or Resin 3D Printers have the advantage over FDM 3D Printers in terms of Surface Finish and somewhat speed of the print, but perform very poorly in terms of the Strength of the Material.
Sometimes these restrictions can open new windows of opportunities like the Polyjet Printing. Polyjet Printing, which uses the fundamentals of FDM Printing, can achieve a viable solution to problems like the color limitation, under par surface finish, and limited material scope. But it is true that even after these limitations, we may see a transition in the society regarding the market scope of the FDM technology. Due to its ease of understanding and use, it would not be surprising to see FDM printers in every home soon.
More exciting developments are happening in the metal 3D printing sector, as the new compositions are developing to be of use as material for end parts. Automotive and aerospace industries are already working on this technology. Many updates about this are not up yet due to the NDAs and secrecy of these projects. The International Space Station already has its 3D printer in space.
The healthcare industry is revolutionizing due to the unlocked potential of 3D printing. Scientists and doctors are successful in bioprinting of the cells and tissues. What is more exciting is that we could be able to imitate the actual movement and shapes of our body parts using bioprinting. 4D Printing is another vertical that is now open to working on. 4D Printing uses shape-memory materials, which allows them to change their shape with time using some stimulus like temperature, pressure, or force. This emulation can help mimic the natural processes like Sunflower tracking and following Sun or stimulation occurring inside a body due to the touch.
Electronics will be having a good time in the future because of nano 3D printing. It can have efficient use of exotic materials like graphene in the manufacturing of the products. The first infinite life 3D printed graphene battery already exists. Nano 3D printing can enable non-standard shaped electronics and embedded boards to optimize space and costs in critical applications.
As we discussed earlier in this article, 3D printing will establish itself in the construction business. In the future, we can see 3D printing robots building structures on places where humans cannot go or survive. It would be nice to see a robot printing a cozy home on the moon for the astronauts in the next few years.
If the orthodox Jewelry business stays as it is, in terms of the operational perspective, it is going to create a contemporary market for itself. It will consist of inventive, unique, and unorthodox Jewelry designs using relatively cheap materials. Jewelry in the coming future can get more widely accepted as consumable goods rather than just an investment.
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