3D printing has become a very widespread hobby and useful tool for many around the globe. From model makers to medical professionals, people use 3D printing to develop ideas and create objects with very limited resources. The concept of 3D printing has been around longer than most realize, as the technology has only been publicly available over the past 10 to 15 years. Today, many more are joining the community to help solve problems or create fascinating objects. 3D printing is changing the world, and it grants small teams and even individuals the opportunity to do what once took an entire factory to do efficiently.
3D printing today is typically done on a machine that creates objects layer by layer. The most common form of 3D printing is Fused Deposition Modeling or FDM. Someone makes a digital, 3D model and imports it into what is called a slicing software. This software then analyzes the model and converts the mesh into a toolpath with varying layer heights and infill for the 3d printer to follow. After the model is “sliced” the 3d printer begins to lay down melted plastic or other materials one layer at a time until the full model is complete.
The concept of 3d printing originates from a short story written in 1945 by Murray Leinster entitles “Things Pass By”, but it was realized by D. Hideo Kodama, who came up with a layer-by-layer approach for manufacturing, using a photosensitive resin that was polymerized by UV light. At that time, however, there was no interest in his research, and the project was scrapped entirely. There were some other developments in the early 80s, but it was Charles Hull in 1984 who is largely responsible for the state of modern 3D printing. He created the stereolithography, or STL file format and the digital slicing and infill strategies common to many processes today.
3D printing was created to easily prototype and replicate objects. Prior to 3D printing, machines would have to be made specifically for one part, which would make the prototype process very expensive for a product that may not even work properly. 3D printers, on the other hand, can make anything. This streamlines the prototyping process, allowing small companies and hobbyist inventors to make their ideas a reality with little startup costs and infinite reproducibility or changes.
Prototyping, however, is just the tip of the 3D printing iceberg. Used primarily in a manufacturing sense, 3D printing began to merge with the medical world in the late 90s to early 2000s. It was originally used for dental implants and small custom prosthetics. However, in 2000, the first 3D printed kidney was produced. Scientists and developers had begun to investigate how 3D printing could replicate parts of the human body. This has been one of the most profound impacts that 3D printing has had on society, as countless lives have been saved and improved due to this technology.
Many medical procedures are unique and require specialized tools or parts to accomplish their goals. Doctors are now able to produce these resources at a fraction of the cost with the aid of various types of 3D printer technologies. In 2008, The first 3D printed prosthetic limb was created, granting a lot of publicity for the tech. This has allowed for people to get fully customizable and operational prosthesis much faster and cheaper than had ever been previously possible.
In 2009, the FDM patents fell into the public domain, opening the way to a wide wave of innovation in FDM 3D printers, a drop of the desktop 3D printers’ price, and consequently, since the technology was more accessible, an increased visibility. With the popularity of 3D printing on the rise, this spurred further development, leading to the technology becoming much more accessible to the average consumer. Now, many individuals can make functional, albeit rudimentary, prosthetics from their own homes. Many companies began to produce their own versions of FDM 3D printers. Companies like Flashforge, Prusa, and Makerbot, have led the way, and each have built a massive community of followers and customers that work together to test new ideas and concepts, and help each other out with problems and troubleshooting.
Moving back to the industrial side of 3D printing, some construction companies are using 3D printing to create quick, affordable housing by extruding concrete instead of plastic. This creates a base structure for the house that can then be easily covered or adapted to provide fast, durable lodging or as a baseline for other construction projects. This also has the potential to disrupt the labor market by replacing many construction jobs, showing yet another consequence of automation. However, this type of construction has the significant advantage of using material more efficiently, reducing waste and material costs.
Another societal impact is that of “Metal 3D printing”. There is a company called Relativity that is in the process of producing the first autonomous rocket factory. They use what is essentially a massive 3D printer that extrudes metal that is immediately welded to the prior layer. They have run into some issues with the expansion and retraction of the metal as it heats and cools, however, they developed an algorithm in their slicing software that compensated for how the material reacts to the temperature, mitigating the problem. Yet again, this could put many people out of a job should they continue to grow and expand. However, just like the construction method, Relativity uses much less material and is ten times faster than usual current process.
3D printing can also be commercially used at a much smaller scale. Many companies use it for marketing purposes. Fully customizable small batch trinkets can be made as handouts and extremely low-cost advertising for potential clients and prospects. This can lead to a much more personable experience that will have consumers more interested due to the personalization of any given product, as well as the novelty of receiving a 3D object as opposed to the average paper handout.
3D printing has even found its way into the world of food. 3D printers have been made to produce models out of chocolate, meat, peanut butter, and more. The consistency is one of the biggest challenges in this area as 3D printing usually heats the plastic or metal to its melting point and cools it onto the next layer. Still, there are endless possibilities, as some culinary pioneers have created foods that can be constructed in such a way that the flavors are released in a certain order, while NASA is experimenting with 3D printing foods to maximize nutritional efficiency for astronauts. 3D printing could change the food of the future, as chefs and scientists alike continue to explore the technology and discover new possibilities.
There is no doubt that 3D printers are becoming an integral part of the modern technology landscape. The industry has come a long way from its origins as a futuristic idea in a 40s short story. Thanks to pioneers like the oft forgotten Hideo Kodama and the “father of 3D printing” Charles Hull, 3D printing has evolved into an accessible, revolutionary technology. From prototypes to prosthetics, toy rockets to real rockets, 3D printing is taking the world by storm, and it will continue to grow and adapt to many other functions throughout society.
Commentaires