Picture 1 - Basic 3D printer for plastic work
3D
printing has indeed brought a new revolution in the field of prototyping in auto-motive
industry, toy and gaming industry, designing and making jewellery, fabrication
of human organs and construction of buildings. 3D printing is not like any
other printer for printing text, pictures/images on paper. 3D printing is a concept
of depositing molten /fluid material as thin layer by layer which solidifies
quickly. 3D printing is commonly used for rapid prototyping of toys, parts /
sub-assemblies of automotive. A 3D printer can use any material which can be in
fluid form for layer by layer depositing. In addition to industry or research institutes
using 3D printing, these are being also used in schools, colleges and
universities. Students can evolve an innovative design and experiment with its various
versions, before going for production. It can use plastic material in multi
colours as well as metals and concrete in a fluid state. Of late, medical experts
and biotechnologists find great use of 3D printing in Dental areas and manufacturing
of human organs for transplant.
3-D
printing has found a great opportunity for the construction of modular residential buildings.
China USA, Sweden and Russia have progressed 3-D printing technology where
instead of molten plastic dropping through nozzles to spread layer by layer, it
lets the concrete mixture to flow and deposit layer by layer, as per design
provided by the building architect. 3D Printing continues to contribute
significantly to the society and economy of any progressive nation.
3D Printing
Process. 3D printing
or additive manufacturing is a process of creating 3D solid objects from a
digital CAD file. 3D printed object is created by pouring down thin successive
layers of fluid material until the entire object is created. Each of these
layers quickly solidifies before coming successive layer is laid. 3D printing has the following stages:
- · Idea generation which is based on customer need/expectation, domain knowledge, creative thinking and imagination of design team, It may involve “brainstorming” session to finalise idea. This is followed by “brain sketching” to finalise an optimum design for prototyping the product.
· Convert a digital design file into a 3D printing format.STL and load it into 3 D Printer.
· Load raw material (filament) and set up 3 D Printer and the “build area” as per size and numbers of objects to be printed.
· Ensure that all equipment and power supply are fully operational for the duration of printing, which can be a few hours. In case of printing concrete structure. it could take 24 to 72 hours, during which power supply and raw material should be available without any interruption.
Types
of 3 D Printers. There are many types of 3-D printers
depending upon the application and cost-benefit consideration. These applications could be for “Plastic objects”,
“Metalwork” or “Concrete work”. 3D printers are being manufactured in the USA, China,
Russia, Japan, Europe and assembled in many countries like India, Taiwan.
However, these are easily available on the internet at a reasonable cost anywhere on
the globe. Its users are product designer, researchers, commercial product industry,
and hobbyists. A basic desktop
model is shown in the picture -1. To select a 3D printer which suits
your functional requirement and budget, you may search on prime websites
like- www.google.com or www.amazon.com. www.alibaba.com
3D
Printer Filament Types. 3D printer filaments may come in a plastic form and you may choose the best 3D
printer filament for a required
colour and price. When you select a vendor for 3D printer, you should also select printing material of required colour, dimension,
quality and quantity. Some commonly
used filaments for plastic type objects are:
·
Glow
in Dark Filament.
·
Wood Filament.
·
Sandstone 3D
printer filament.
How
to Choose a Right 3D Printer Filament?
·
With all the different types of 3D printer
filaments in the market, choosing the best one is a challenging task. Some tips
to determine the best material for your 3D printing object are given below:
·
Type of material –
If you want to build a glow in the dark object, you can go for glow in the dark
PLA 3D printer filament. If you want to produce wooden objects, then get a Wood
PLA filament. If you want sandstone, metallic or magnetic object, get the
appropriate filament
·
Safety and
flexibility. Do you want a safer product or do you prefer strength and flexibility of ABS or a
particular colour? It is your call. Be
pragmatic and remember cheapest is not the best.
·
Diameter.
3D printer filament comes with different diameters. There are 3mm and 1.75mm. Between
the two, 1.75mm is better. Regardless of the size you choose, the diameter
should be consistent throughout.
·
Impurities .This
is a major issue when selecting a 3D printer filament. There is a direct
correlation between a cheap filament and clogging of nozzles. Therefore, buy branded
and well-priced filaments.
Selection of 3D printer
Many
3D printer companies offer best service and products to customers, who can see
online large range from affordable to most advanced version. 3D printer users
are from hobbyists to engineers and from professionals to innovators. 3D printers
on-line store have become the best place to get your right printer for the
right price. 3D printer desk top model cost starts from $300 to $4000. Go to Google
store, Amazon store or Alibaba store and get the best value for the money.
Plastic
3D Printers
For
its use in your office to the factory floor, plastic 3-D printers can generate
concept models, precision and functional prototypes, master patterns and moulds
for tooling, and real end-use parts to optimize your designs, streamline your
workflows and bring innovative products to market faster. Some popular desktop models
at affordable price are:
·
PRINTRBOT 3D–
Rs 80,000.
·
3D systems CUBEPRO duo – Rs 210,000.
·
3D printer for 3D arts and
crafts. - $162,000 to $200,000.
·
3D Jewellery Manufacturing . - $5,000.
·
Low price 3D Laser Printer for metal parts -- $3,000 to $14,500
·
Metal 3D Printer ( Aluminium) - $280,000 to $ 310,000
·
3D concrete printer, from China - $6,000.
3D Printing of Human
Organs for Transplant . According to data
from Cleveland Clinic, 21 people in the US die waiting for an organ every day.
Organs like Kidney are most needed and one does not get donor in the right time.
A Swedish start-up Cell-ink has managed to 3D print tissues and organs from the skin. The company uses a simple 3D printer and a special gel to produce human organs
and tissues. It started with developing a plastic model
of the kidney using the 3D printer and it proved to be a successful innovation. With
technical experts gaining more expertise in biomedical areas, many 3-D printed
human organs will be available for transplant. It will especially help in
orthopaedic and dental cases. This will reduce dependency on donors of human
organs. With collaborated approach
between medical experts and Mechatronic engineers and a judicious blend of
imagination and technology, lot can be achieved in the area of health care
3D Printers for Building Construction. Additive Manufacturing of Concrete (AMoC) is
gaining momentum in the construction industry, where 3D printing technology is
proving cost-efficient construction. Different variants in this family of 3D
printers are being developed. Concrete is the cheapest building material and
easily available worldwide. Raw materials for concrete are cement, sand and
gravel, which are cheap and readily available in most places of the world.
Concrete buildings are strong, durable and fire-resistant. Due to fluid state
of concrete mixture, it can be pumped under high pressure through long pipes
and to any height. It can adapt any required shape of the structure. In traditional
concrete construction, there are few challenges as listed below which restrict construction
of concrete structures:
· Difficulty
in preparing the exact size and shape of the mould for pouring and storing
concretes. Particularly, it is difficult
to build mould of non-linear shape.
· The erection and positioning of moulds require a lot of physical effort.
·
Availability
of suitable material for moulds at low cost is an issue.
·
Moulds
are not easily reusable at different constriction sites and have to be prepared
in-situ and erected afresh.
AMoC
using 3D printing technology can address most of the above challenges and also provide
design flexibility. Since the print head gradually builds up the complete
structure, it is feasible that the composition and quantity of the printed the material can be parametrically varied from one location to another, according
to specific local requirements. The potential of 3D concrete printing and
large-scale application are many. A common nozzle size in 400 mm (40 x10 mm)
and it requires the printer head movement to be programmed such that the
orientation of the nozzle always remains tangent to the tool path. Some noteworthy 3D printed concrete structures
are:
·
Two-storey
house in China, measuring 400 m 2, built by Beijing-based HuaShang Tengda in
2016. This was completed in 4 days.
· Office
building in Dubai, UAE, measuring 250 m2, 2016, by the Chinese construction company
Winsun. The building was printed using a 120 × 40 × 20 feet 3D printer and an automated robotic arm
· Interior
of a hotel Suite measuring 12.5 × 10.5 × 4 m, in the Philippines, completed 20
September 2015, by Total Kustom
·
Five-storey
apartment building in Suzhou, China, completed in January 2015.
·
Children’s
Castle, Minnesota, USA, completed August 2014
·
Series of 10 houses, in Suzhou, China, by Winsun,
2014. Printed with a massive 150 × 10 × 6.6 m 3D printer,
Selection
3D Concrete Printers
Concrete is mixed with water and pumped into a hose by a
mixer-pump located on the side of the set-up. The hose is connected to the
printer head situated at the end of the vertical arm of a motion-controlled robot serving a print area of 9 × 4.5 × 2.8 m At present these printers are being manufactured only in China, USA, Russia and few countries of, Europe, Details
and price can be searched through
Google. These printers are of large size and heavy duty costing from $300000 upward,
depending upon the size of the structure to be built. A typical concrete the structure created by 3D printing is shown in picture 2.
Jog Opportunities. 3D printing offers jobs for professionals
working in
industries related to prototyping automotive parts, toys and games, ornaments
and jewellery, artistic/decorative items in homes and hotels. Schools/ Colleges of Design, find 3D
printing as a great boon for creative thinking and innovation. It is
particularly suited for sculpturing and decorative display items. It also provides
jobs for architects and site engineers involved with building construction.
During present technology
wave and industry Revolution 4.o, everyone from engineers to architects to designers
of toys and furniture to biotechnologists and medical professionals is adopting
3D Printing Technology. There is good demand for
researches and developer of software tools and embedded software, instrument
and control engineers, artists and designers, mechanical/mechatronic
engineers, civil /structural engineers, designers of auto-motives, gaming
experts, bio-medical experts and so on. As an upcoming professional, you must
ride the “Technology Wave” and equip yourself with 3D printing skills, as
applicable to your present/future job.
For more information, refer to my book – “Career Challenges during
Global Uncertainty”, available on www.amazon.com.
Dr Sarbjit Singh, PhD, Former Hony Advisor to School of
Engineering and Technology, Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon , Haryana, India.
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