Basic Model of 3 D printer
#3D #Printing has brought a revolution in the field of #prototyping in Auto-Motive industry, Toy and #Gaming industry, 3D Solid #Modeling, #Designing and making jewellery, #Fabrication of Human #Organs and #Construction of #Buildings. 3D printing is not like printing text, pictures/images on paper. 3D printing concept is # depositing of #molten /#fluid material as thin # layer by layer which quickly solidifies. 3D Printing is commonly used for rapid prototyping of toys, parts / sub-assemblies of automotive. 3D Printer can use any material which can be in fluid form for layer by layer depositing and it solidifies quickly. 3D Printers are being used at school as well as college-level, where students can do # innovative #design and #experiment various designs, before going for production. It can use #plastic material in multi colours as well as #metals and #concrete in a fluid state. 3-D printing has found great opportunities for the construction of modular residential buildings. China, Sweden and Russia have progressed 3-D printing technology where instead of molten plastic dropping through nozzles to spread layer by layer, it lets concrete mixture 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 is the process of making three dimensional solid
objects from a digital design drawing file. The creation of a 3D printed object
is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process, the object is
created by laying layers after layer of molten material until the entire object
is created. 3D printers are capable of outputting in different colours for
which multiple materials are already in the market. Besides rapid
prototyping, 3D printing results in waste reduction, customization and early
delivery of the product. Stages for creative design 3 D printing are given
below:
· Idea generation It is based on knowledge,
creative thinking and imagination of the design team, It may involve a “Brain
Storming” session followed by “Brain Sketching” to finalize workable ideas for
prototyping and validating the product.
· Convert ideas into digital design. It uses software
design tools like CATIA, Solid Works 3
D, Solid Edge, e –Design to produce 3 D digital design drawing
file of the conceived object.
· Convert drawing design to printable file. For simple 3D
prints,.STL is the best format for 3D printing files as this is
small, simple and it follows industry standards. However, when you need to show
colours and textures,.OBJ is the best 3D printing file.
· Setting up 3 D Printer. Load raw material and set up 3 D
Printer build area and ensure proper power connections
· Start Printing. Check that all equipment is
fully operational and start printing as per design, This layer by layer
material deposing process is quite slow and in some cases, it may few hours.
The user must be sure that the power supply is available throughout the
printing, else you have to discard the work done so far and restart
all over again.
3D Printer
Features
· Speed. Speed of printing is very important for
rapid prototyping. In some cases of a complex drawing, it may take a few hours
to print a solid model. The basic 3D Printer model as shown
in figure 9.1, operates at a printing speed of up to 250 millimetres per
second, and travel speeds as high as 400 millimetres per second.
· Size. Size of printing bed Size (Length x Width x
Height) is very important. Its size limitation is a major drawback with most 3D
printers available in the market.
· Accuracy. In prototyping various parts, accuracy
is very critical. Various vendors are offering accuracy of 40
microns minimum layer height, and a resolution of 20 microns.
· Durability. The 3D printer has very fast to and fro
movement and for a period which could be 3-8 hours. This requires a
rugged machine that requires little maintenance.
Printing Materials. There are more than 40 materials which could be plastic, metal and
any other material which can flow through a pipe and quickly solidify layer by
layer. To convert solid material say plastic to a molten state, the heater
temperature could range from 160 Deg C to 370 Deg C. Some of the common
materials used for 3D printing, are Poly-lactic
Acid (PLA) to Nylon and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), PLA is a most common thermoplastic
polymer derived from natural sources such as corn starch or sugar cane, Bamboo-fill, Brass-fill, Bronze-fill, Carbon
Fiber, Carbon Fiber PLA, High Impact Poly-Styrene (HIPS), Nylon “Platinum Series”,
Polycarbonate/ABS, Stainless Steel PLA, T-Glass, Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE), Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA). In the case of building construction, cement concrete mixture at
normal temperature is pumped under high pressure and spread layer by layer in
the construction of walls and floors for concrete buildings.
Selecting 3D Printers. There are many
types of 3-D printers, depending upon application and cost consideration. 3-D
printers are being manufactured in USA China, Russia, Japan and a few countries
in Europe but these are available at a reasonable cost anywhere in the world.
3d printers are used by product designers, researchers, commercial product
units, and hobbyists. 3D printers are designed by multi-disciplinary
professionals who are experts in 3D design software, hardware and embedded
software. Some basic considerations for the selection of 3D printers are given in the
succeeding paragraphs.
· Price Range. Many 3D printer companies offer
their products with the best after-sale service and extended warranty period.
You can check online a large range of 3D printers from affordable to most
advanced versions. 3D printer cost starts from $300 to $4000. From hobbyists to
engineers and from professionals to innovators. A heavy-duty 3D
printer says for the car industry may cost $5000 and above.
· Full Colour 3D Printers In some engineering college labs, innovation centres or
industrial units, you may need multi-colour printing of objects. ProJet CJP x60
3D printer is one such full-colour 3D printer, with good printing speeds,
efficiency and low cost. One may choose from others models available online.
· Plastic 3D Printers. Plastic 3-D printers are the most
popular for generating concept models, precision and functional prototypes,
master patterns and moulds for tooling, These are also very handy to optimize
your designs, and speedily launch new products to the market.
· Printrbot 3D. This printer is locally assembled
with an LCD controller and sold for a low price of say Rs 80,000 Rs 10000. Printrbot Plus,3 D printer
is constructed of powder-coated metal and machined aluminium with an open
platform for fabricating parts up to 10 x 10 x 10 inches, using 1.75mm PLA
filament. It prints in mono colour using a single nozzle and it is a
good size and price for a hobbyist/ beginner
· CUBEPRO duo. This 3D printer is costing RS 2,10,000-. It
uses dual nozzles and is capable of printing with up to two colours using ABS,
PLA, and Nylon materials. It provides resolutions of 70 microns. It can
generate 3D objects of size 9 x 10.75 x 9.5"
· 3D Metal Printer. By using molten metal as
the fluid, it can generate 3D metal objects starting from micro-detailed to
extra-large size solid model. We can get precision metal parts faster by 3D
printing, It can produce accurate and affordable casting patterns without
tooling. 3D metal printing process saves time, cost and weight with high quality
and precision, It facilitates metal manufacturing solutions.
· Aurora labs - Metal DMLS printer. Aurora Labs is offering an affordable 3 D Metal printer -- Metal
Laser Sintering Machine. It can print in many metals including stainless steel,
brass, bronze and titanium. Aurora Labs- 3 D printer is good to
start for printing 3D metal objects.
· Dental 3D Printers. Today, from an online store, you can
select a Dental 3D printer along with printing materials and software that can
deliver accurate, highly detailed dental prostheses, orthodontic thermoforming
models. The product will come out faster and of higher quality. As
more and more dental professionals get involved in bioinformatics, many 3-D
printed dental products will be available for transplant.
· 3D printing with concrete. The First 3
D printing of a building, BOD (Building
On-Demand) was developed in the UK, in 2017. Based on
BOD experience a number of improvements have been made to the
original BOD printer and come up with second-generation BOD 2.
3D Printing of Intricate
Human Organs. Doctors / Biomedical
engineers have successfully created 3D printed human ligaments and tendons.
Ligaments and tendons (Connectors) have a variety of cells in different
patterns because of their proximity to both bone and muscle. 3D printing
of these connective tissues has been a big challenge for biomedical engineers
This success has given new hope to orthopedic patients suffering from tears and
ruptures of these tissues. Initially, the research started with
developing a kidney plastic model using a 3D printer and it proved to be a
successful innovation. By gaining more expertise in biomedical areas, many 3-D
printed human organs will be used for transplant. These 3D printed
body parts will allow the patients to get a replacement without additional
surgery or waiting for some donor or accident cases from hospitals, It will be
a boon for athletes and sportspersons who at times suffer serious such injuries
and need recovery as soon as possible. Some researchers have reported that the
biggest use would be for treating ligaments, tendons and injured spinal disks.
3D
Printers for Building Construction. Using the
concept of layer by layer spreading of molten material, Chinese and Russian and
a few counties in Europe have extended this to the flow of concrete mixture and
built walls, pillars and beams for house/office
construction. Chinese had completed two-storied a pair of
houses in 48 hours. This is a dramatic saving in time and labour
cost. 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 4
degree-of-freedom (DOF) gantry robot serving a print area of
9 × 4.5 × 2.8 m. At present, these printers are being manufactured
only in China, the USA, Russia and a few countries of, Europe. Details and
prices can be searched on Google. These printers are of large size and heavy
duty costing from 300000 USD upward, depending upon the size of the structure
to be built. 3D printing technology is now being used for the construction of
very high rise towers/Burgs in Dubai.
· Additive Manufacturing of Concrete (AMoC). This is now gaining popularity in the construction industry. 3D printing
has great potential to improve the current construction process. Different
variants in this type of construction are being developed and improved
continuously. A fundamental scientific understanding of the relations between
design, material, process, and product is being explored. Concrete is the most
used building material worldwide. To prepare concrete, you need raw materials
like 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 its fluid state of concrete mixture, it can be pumped under high
pressure through long pipes and to any height and it settled into any shape of
the structure. The main characteristic of concrete is that cement, sand,
gravel, or other granulate materials get bound by a matrix that is formed by an
exothermal hydration reaction between cement and water. In the
traditional construction process, concrete structures take a long time for
construction, curing and finishing. Some common issues
with traditional concrete construction are given below :
· Difficulty in preparing exact size and shape of mould for pouring and
storing concrete. It is very difficult to build a mould of a structure having a
non-linear shape.
· The erection and positioning of moulds require a lot of physical effort.
· Availability of suitable material for moulds at low cost.
· Molds are not easily reusable at different construction sites and have
to be prepared in situ and erected afresh.
AMoC can address the above challenges
since the print head can gradually build up layer by layer and the complete
structure, In AMoC it is feasible that the composition and quantity
of the printing material can be parametrically varied from one location to
another, according to specific local requirements. The potential of 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) and large-scale
applications is vast. A common nozzle size in 400 mm (40 x10 mm) requires the
printer head movement to be programmed such that the orientation of the nozzle
always remains tangent to the tool path. Some popular 3D printed concrete
structures, built globally are:
· China. A Series of 10 houses, in Suzhou, China, was
printed (constructed) by Winsun in 2014. The company used a big size
150 × 10 × 6.6 m printer. One five-story apartment building in Suzhou, China,
was completed in January 2015. A two-story house in China, measuring
400 m2, was built by Beijing-based
HuaShang Tengda in 2016. In the last five years, much
more housing construction projects have been undertaken in China.
· Dubai. One office building in Dubai, UAE,
measuring 250 m2 was built in 2016, by Chinese construction
company Winsun. The building was printed using a 120 × 40 × 20 feet 3D printer,
featuring an automated robotic arm
· Philippine. Interior of a hotel Suite measuring
12.5 × 10.5 × 4 m, in the Philippines was completed on 20 September 2015, by
Total Kustom.
· USA Children’s Castle, Minnesota, USA, was
completed by using 3D printing in August 2014
Two sets of two-bedroom houses have
been constructed by Russians using 3-D printing technology in just four days.
China has done even better. France has also made a beginning
in using 3-D printing technology and made three-room houses in 18 days. A Dubai
based Construction company, Cazza is planning to extend 3-D Printing
technology to Crane Printing and build the world’s first 3D-printed
skyscraper in UAE. It will use steel and concrete. The company had
plans to build the world’s first rotating skyscraper, in Dubai by 2020.
However, Due to the Corona pandemic, the project has been delayed and it may
take 2-3 years more. When fully built, the tower will be 1,375 feet tall, with
each of its 80 stories capable of rotating individually around a concrete core.
Summary.
There is a number of 3D printers which
can print in different colours using multiple nozzles and multiple materials.
With saving in energy consumption, reduction in material waste, customization
of products, 3D printing is changing the manufacturing process. 3D printing concept is popularly used for visualization and imagination
by many designers and artists in their various fields. It offers
jobs for 3D artists working in industries related to toys and games, ornaments
and jewellery, artistic display and decorative items in homes and hotels,
schools/ colleges of Design. 3D printing is a great boon for creative thinking,
innovation and prototyping. It is a very useful tool for sculpturing and
designing decorative display items. It also provides jobs for architects and
site engineers, involved with the construction of concrete buildings.
Thus 3D Printer contributes a lot to
society and the national economy. It is now well established that 3D printing
is not limited to 3 D modelling and prototyping objects. Instead, it has many
useful applications in areas like healthcare/ organ transplants, building
construction, rapid prototyping and manufacturing. 3D printing technology
offers many jobs in the manufacturing, construction and healthcare sectors.
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