Here's a introduction to 3D Printing in a nutshell. Lets watch a 3D Printer in action:
The science behind 3D printers is really old. It has been in existence since 1984, but recently with the innovation in field of IT technology and material science, it has become cheaper, easily accessible and cost effective. Most of the 3D printers work on a bottom's up approach and deposit a layer of plastic, then another layer on top and keep on doing that till they get the finished product. This is how 3D printing of plastic parts is done and requires a hot head to melt plastic and deposit it, like the ink heads of the old inkjet printers.
Another technique is printing resin, it uses LED's to print them. So, its more easy to maintain, gives you a lot more print and the product are almost as strong as those of the plastic printing. Lets see a video by FormLabs, one of the innovators in field of using resin for printing:
This video by 16x9, covers almost all of the things you need to know about 3D printing. The most interesting thing about 3D printing is that there is no end to what you can print. We are printing tissues, food items, metal pieces and even guns.
What lies ahead? There are currently research going on to print electronics, various types of metals, and ability to print multiple materials in the same item, instead of printing them separately and then assembling them.
The Science Behind 3D Printing
The science behind 3D printers is really old. It has been in existence since 1984, but recently with the innovation in field of IT technology and material science, it has become cheaper, easily accessible and cost effective. Most of the 3D printers work on a bottom's up approach and deposit a layer of plastic, then another layer on top and keep on doing that till they get the finished product. This is how 3D printing of plastic parts is done and requires a hot head to melt plastic and deposit it, like the ink heads of the old inkjet printers.
Another technique is printing resin, it uses LED's to print them. So, its more easy to maintain, gives you a lot more print and the product are almost as strong as those of the plastic printing. Lets see a video by FormLabs, one of the innovators in field of using resin for printing:
But when it comes to printing metal you need to deal with really high temperatures, and instead of pouring in molten metal or a shooting a jet of liquid metal, its preferred to melt a layer of powdered metal, so that they are bonded. This is known as sintering, and is usually done by high energy laser. But still this method doesn't gives you the same amount of strength as a cast structure would have provided.
So, if you can find out a way to 3D print metals with the strength that of a cast structure or control the microstructural properties of the product, maybe print in different part with different alloy composition - you will be on your way to become a billionaire. I hope this has provided you all with a basic insight about 3D printing and the enormous potential it has.
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