Three-dimensional printing has been creeping into the news lately as one of the newest and hottest technologies on the market. But contrary to popular belief, 3D printing has been around since the mid-1980s when the technology used for prototyping and solid imaging, called stereolithography, was developed. By the early 2000s, the 3D printers and services market was worth $2.2 billion worldwide with a large presence in many industries such as the military, dental and medical industries, biotech industry, footwear, jewelry and accessories, just to name a few. As society continues to explore the capabilities of 3D printing, the question begs whether the fascination with this technology will fade out or revolutionize the world.
Although three-dimensional printing uses a variety of open-source software and hardware technologies, its fundamental operation is the same. The common theme in 3D printing is the ability to create a physical object from a computer model, or take a 3D CAD file representation of an object and produce a physical object from it. As opposed to subtractive manufacturing methods where material is generally cut, drilled, or milled, 3D printing leverages the additive manufacturing methods where the object is built in layers in the shape designated by the software used to build the model. Today, 3D printers are most commonly used for printing plastic objects using a method known as fused filament fabrication. A plastic filament is melted and then deposited in layers to create the object.
Time and cost savings are core objectives for any startup or small company. 3D printing and services has become a huge selling point for individuals looking to do prototyping before they invest in machining or injection molding which tend to be more expensive. 3D printing allows individuals to customize pieces of equipment without investing in expensive machines.
The future of 3D printing and services can potentially create large gains for the space industry. NASA, after already conducting tests in low and zero gravity settings, is planning to send a 3D printer to space so that astronauts do not have to carry spare parts and create extra weight on the spaceship. Moreover, other types of three-dimensional printing include 3D food printers where a pizza can be created by layering the dough, sauce, cheese, etc. and 3D bioprinting where cartilage, bone, skin, blood vessels, and other structures can be layered in a gel form.
Interested in learning more about 3D printing? Check out the Rapid Prototyping class featuring the Marketbot Replicator 3D Printer at TechShop Pittsburgh, right around the corner from CMU!
http://www.techshop.ws/pittsburgh.html
Follow @TechShopPGH on Twitter