The 3D printing technology will surprise us in the future more than once - it develops dynamically in fields such as medicine, automotive, heavy engineering or jewellery trade. Nevertheless, a journey with this technology is worth beginning from a scratch – these are the facts worth knowing:
1. 3D printers are not a technological novelty.
The first technique of 3D printing was elaborated in 1984 by an American – Charles Hull, who patented the 3D printing method consisting in hardening of successive layers of a synthetic resin with a laser beam. In Hull's company - 3D System - an STL file format, that is in use up to this day, was developed.
Charles Hull was not the only one, who worked at additive technology concept - at the same time, independently, other people from all over the world worked on it too – among others, Bill Masters and Hideo Kodama.
3D print technology is not something new then – but only has been recently discovered anew.
2. A material of the print depends on its destination
Currently, there are many filaments available on the market that are used in the 3D printing technology – these are diverse in terms of chemical and physical properties, durability, density, plasticity and price.
Each of them has a number of both advantages and restrictions, that's why before starting a project, a destination of the element to be printed should be carefully analyzed. What is important, not every printer can print out of every filament – that is a reason for a choice to be based on available capabilities.
The most commonly used filaments include ABS, PLA, PET-G and kevlar.
3. 3D printers contributet to medcine's progress.
One of the most important features of this technology is a possibility of prototyping, which finds great use in medicine – at present, complete anatomical models, artificial limbs and implant prototypes are printed.
A first 3D printed heart contributed to saving a life of a 4-year-old Mia Gonzales, who was born with a major aortic defect. Her defective heart as printed based on CT scan image, thanks to what a surgery could've been planned in details.
4. 3D print is not only a single technology.
3D printing consists of layering a material, thereby creating a three-dimensional object. Depending on a filament that was used, we distinguish a number of diverse technologies – the most popular ones are:
- FDM – 3D printing from thermoplastic,
- SLA – 3D printing from laser light hydrogenated resins,
- DLP – 3D printing from projector light hydrogenated resins,
- SLS – 3D printing from powdered polymers sintered with laser light,
- DMLS – 3D printing from powdered metal sintered with laser light.
5. 3D technology is ecological.
Environmental protection and ecology issue is becoming more and more relevant to society. 3D printers enable umożliwiają reducing waste at the production stage – ponieważ objects are creating by adding successive, already mapped out layers, giving the print an expected shape, there is no waste or difficulty with its utilization or storage.
Companies like Apple, General Electric or Bentley have already appreciated the ecological possibilities of production in 3D technology and are planning to implement 3D printers into their continuous process.