“With 3D printing, complexity is free. The printer doesn’t care if it makes the most basic shape or the most complex shape, and that is completely turning design and manufacturing on its head as we know it.” — Avi Reichental, President & CEO, 3D Systems
3D printing turns a digital computer-aided design (CAD) into tangible products by creating the input substrate materials using a layer-upon-layer method of Printing. 3D printing is now widely utilized in so many sectors.
Consequently, NASA launched a $3.5 million 3D-printed habitat challenge to enhance and further develop the technology to rapidly create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and Mars, for rapid and effective deployment of housing in sustainable methods. Also, robotic construction techniques using 3D printing will allow for more sustainable exploration missions and for documentation.
Moreover, in manufacturing, printing and commercial marketing, 3D-Printing changed the face of the game. Additionally, 3D printing will disrupt the manufacturing value chain by:
- Can print products immediately even in a short notice. The ease of 3D printing can produce products without spending days or weeks of waiting.
- Shortening cycle of design, prototype and mass manufacture production.
- For the avid-patron in manufacturing and commercial use, 3D printing lessens the negative customer feedback and waste that are thrown in the production of materials.
- It makes everything fast and easier! 3D printing removes complexity from manufacturing and makes production more easy and accessible; no matter how complex your plan, you don’t need complex tooling or forging to bring your design to life; the printer deconstructs your complexity layer by layer, detail to details, while reducing the cost of production, compared to traditional methods.
Bio-printing
In the field of science, 3D printing greatly changed the game. For instance, in bio-printing, which is offshoot of traditional layer-by-layer 3D Printing with biomaterials (human cells) focused on producing and cultivating living tissue, blood vessels, cells, and organs for biomedical and experimental uses.
Bio-printing is more complex and has a slow development compared to mainstream 3D Printing because the human body is very complex to understand. With over 100 billion neurons, and true enough, the human brain is the most complex object in the universe.
Even though the future is slowly progressing and evolving, Bio-printing is really beneficial and promising because it enables personalized treatments with the printing of individual and targeted tissues in the human body. If your kidney, liver, or heart fails, we can print you a new one. Personalized prosthetics currently demonstrate the power of synergy between medicine and 3D printing. This innovation will forever change the future of biology and medicine.
3D Metal Printing
For commercial and mainstream use, Direct Metal Printing (DMP) is the highest level of 3D printing technology; it produces additive substances to forge the material and manufacturing process that builds high-quality complex metal parts from 3D CAD data. It enables the creation of machine parts previously thought impossible (in subtractive manufacturing, casting, and forging) due to complex shapes and figures.
DMP is the crown jewel in industries because:
- Nothing is impossible for it allows for the production in detailed and intricate manner that develop machine parts without incurring any extra cost on tooling and manufacturing.
- Rapid and commercial design and prototyping at the tightest rate of durability.
- Optimizes design and manufacture by reducing the gap between aesthetics and functionality. Removing complexity from design creates room for better models with better load and strength spread.
- Increasing the number of metal alloys that can be 3D printed.
The 3D-printing industry is going up and up. And as it reaches at the top of future technological advancements, 3D printing will enhance and traditional manufacturing by opening the space, accessible production, time management and as well as improve productivity by reducing the lead time between thoughts and products.
