3D Printing

3D printing is a form of printing in which a 3D object is created   by laying down successive layers of material. 3D printers are generally faster, more affordable, and easier to use than other additive manufacturing technologies. 3D printers offer product developers the ability to print parts and assemblies made of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties (commonly Plastics, fibers etc.), often in a single build process. Advanced 3D printing technologies yield models that can serve as product prototypes . 3D Printers can build objects from scratch, CAD or 3D scanner file out of a variety of materials.

What is does it basically means?

3D printing is a manufacturing process in which material (plastic, metal, or other) is laid down, layer by layer, to form a 3-dimensional object.  It is an additive process because the object is built up from scratch against the traditional subtractive processes in which material is cut, drilled, milled, or machined off.  3D printers employ a variety of techniques and materials, but they share the ability to turn digital files containing 3-dimensional data—whether created on a CAD (computer-aided design) program or from a 3D scanner—into physical objects.

Applications

1.       Design visualization

2.       Metal casting

3.       Healthcare and Entertainment

4.       Education

5.       Replicating ancient and priceless artifacts in archaeology

6.       Reconstruction bones and body parts

7.       In reconstructing heavily damaged evidence acquired from crime scene investigations

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How does 3D printing work?

3D printers use a large number of technologies. It Includes

·         Selective laser sintering (SLS)

·         Fused deposition modeling (FDM)

·         Digital light processing (DLP)

Selective laser sintering (SLS):  It uses a high-powered laser to fuse particles of plastic, metal, ceramic, or glass. At the end of the job, the remaining material is recycled. 

Fused deposition modeling (FDM):   In this ABS plastic or another thermoplastic is melted and deposited through a heated extrusion nozzle. . This is among the fastest methods, and one of the few that supports color printing.

Digital light processing (DLP):   this technique exposes a liquid polymer to light from a projector, which hardens the polymer layer by layer until the object is built and the remaining liquid polymer is drained off.

 Some companies such as Kraftwurx, Shapeways, Sculpteo, and i.materialise offer an on-line 3D printing service which is open to both consumers and industry^]. People can upload their own 3D designs to the company website, designs are printed via industrial 3D printers and then shipped to the customer.