3D Printing Process & Technology
Guided by digital design software inputs, 3-D printers build three-dimensional objects out of super-thin, successive layers of thermoplastic material deposited on a print bed inside the machine. 3-D printers come in personal, professional and production sizes.
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Uses
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Designers, artists, architects, inventors, students, hobbyists and entrepreneurs use personal and professional 3-D printers in home, office, classroom or workshop settings to turn digital concepts into prototypes, models and even ready-to-use products, such as plastic toys and jewelry.The large production machines are used for industrial applications, such as rapid prototyping and component manufacture.
Process
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The 3-D printer's auto-loading materials containers are filled with the plastic or other material from which an object will be built. An operator levels the printing bed inside the machine and adjusts the extrusion head nozzle to its optimum height above the bed. On the "print" command, the nozzle, continually moving back and forth, left and right, and up and down, dispenses filaments of the heated building material in super-fine, successive layers to form the object. Its movements are controlled by a digital design file created with Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software that is converted to printer code and fed to the machine from an attached computer or memory card.
Technology
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3-D printers range in size from desk-top personal models to refrigerator-sized professional models to even larger industrial production machines. Regardless of model, they run on computer code converted from CAD files by special software that comes with the printer. Personal 3-D printers are available in kit form that cost no more than a top-of-the line color laser printer. Fully-assembled machines cost from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars in 2010.
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- Photo Credit Plastic parts image by Dusi from Fotolia.com
