3D Printing - What's the big deal? - Is it for real?
 

OK...so there's TONS of buzz about 3D printing. Everyone's response to any fabrication these days is "you could 3D print one". But I really don't see it anywhere in the marketplace. Everything I see 3D printed looks like a prototype model, and is made of a material that would disintegrate in about 15 minutes in real world use. The 3D printed car recently on Jay Leno's garage was nothing to get excited about.

Sooooo...Are there real world applications for this technology now or anytime soon? Or is this just another concept that people buzz about like electric cars that is available but still decades from being viable for every day wide ranging use?

Are we just letting our excitement about the technology get way ahead of where things are at in reality? Just wondering.

It's in its infancy, so yes, right now everyone is simply exploring what can be done with it. But its going to move into real world use in short order. Construction will likely be the first area. Instead of building massive forms to make complex curving structures out of concrete, a large 3D rig could build it up one layer at a time.

I suspect there will be applications the creation of specialized materials that require precise layering.

Electric cars being decades away from daily use? You kidding right? I see Teslas all the time. The next 10 years are going to see a massive shift towards electrics.

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Yep, already there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzmCnzA7hnE

Can't wait for China to 3D print the first skyscraper. They're already assembling 20-30 story buildings in 2 weeks.

3D printing will absolutely revolutionize the manufacturing industry. As mentioned before, this technology is just in its infancy now. The printers themselves are rapidly evolving to produce higher resolution parts with greater accuracy, and more sophisticated materials are becoming available almost on a daily basis. This will enable 3D-printed parts to go right into service with very little, or no follow up finishing. It's already possible to print complete assemblies with moving parts, which will move products to the marketplace much faster and with fewer manufacturing steps.

One of the biggest areas of manufacturing to be affected will that of injected-molded parts. No longer will expensive tooling be required to make parts that are found in just about every consumer product on the market. Prices for these items will fall because expensive tooling will no longer need to be amortized into the piece-part cost. Whether you're making 10 parts, or 100,000, the cost just boils down to material and time on the printer.

Audi recently announced that it will start using metal-based 3D printed parts in its vehicles in the very near future. Airbus is moving in the same direction, and GE is already using 3D printed parts in its jet engines. GE is also working on a miniaturized 3D printed steam turbine that will be used for water desalinization.

Read about how 3D printing is already being used in aerospace here:
Aerospace - 3D Printing Industry

Don't judge 3d based on the plastic stuff.

Real metal, real parts are in production now. Konnissegg is using it for variable turbines. Many others.

Yes it is the future because specialty parts can be made without tooling. Huge cost savings. Actually go from cost prohibitive , to acceptably expensive.

Jay Leno test drove a 3D printed car... yeah, it was funky but it worked!
I'm already seen a small odd shaped no longer available part here at work that are 3D printed.

We have electric car charging stations here at work... so many employees have electric cars they have to be shared.

Will revolutionize medicine.

Organs on Demand? 3D Printers Could Build Hearts, Arteries

I first saw 3D printed or the more generic term rapid prototype parts 20yrs ago and the stuff you see the press hyping up now with the availability of home machines is low tech.

I think high level motorsport with the low part numbers might be one of the first industries to embrace this manufacturing technology.

It has allowed big F1/LMP 1 teams to make 1000's of wind tunnel test parts a month instead of a few hundred dramatically increasing the speed of areo development.

As for full scale race car parts it's changed the way designers have had to think, with metal parts no longer do you think of subtracting material, tool cutter access or billet size, conventional wall thicknesses etc

Take the titanium roll hoop structure on a single seater, this can now be stressed with shape optimising software to make a structure that has a similar construction to a human bone ie thin skin on the outside and lots of tiny cells/webs on the inside making it very much lighter than a conventional fabricated part.

Or a hydraulic distribution manifold that has multiple curved oil galleries which are intertwined like some organic structure rather than a block of metal with holes drilled in it.

Also when casting titanium you can make a rapid prototype pattern with so much more detail that is then dipped into a ceramic liquid to make the mould. The RP pattern is then burnt away before pouring in the titanium.

Or using a RP mould when making carbon fibre parts, you wrap whatever shape you want in carbon eg engine plenum and the melt out the RP mould and you have a hollow carbon part which is so much more complex than could be achieved before RP was used.

For me it has changed the way I have to think when designing and made so many more things possible that could not be done before.

Outside of my little part of the world of engineering I know titanium RP parts are used for bone and dental implants as the rough surface texture helps bone growth around the hip ball joint or whatever be so it becomes part of the patients body quicker with less chance of rejection or infection. This same rough surface can be added to carbon fibre parts allowing for full bones to be made or even making it possible to have quick fit limbs, you could have a set of swimming legs, running legs all changed and fitted in seconds.

For me it will have a huge positive impact on the world as it will reduce waste, scrap and allow so much more flexibility than has been achieved before. This is no short term fad but real technology pushing new frontiers and here to stay.

Even after being around this technology for so long I still have '$hit this is James Bond stuff' cool moments when I see some of the stuff been done with it.

Sounds great. Is every seat going to come with a parachute and BASE jumping lessons?

And they fall down even faster!

Couldn't agree more. LAB126, which does R&D for Amazon, has 3D printers scattered around it's offices like other places have copiers. My company is using 3D printing for new product development...we get finished parts in days instead of weeks.

I even had a NLA part printed for my Karmann Ghia. It's just a small cable clip but, impossible to find anywhere. I modeled the part in SolidWorks and had a friend print it for me. Fits perfectly and looks exactly like the originals.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1453000438.jpg

We have been 3D printing various parts for a First Robotics team for the last 3 years. Great for prototyping, and 1-offs.

You took his statement out of context. He said

Don't judge it by the home printers. We've used it heavily in aerospace for at least a decade, it is invaluable for doing prototype work including flight-worthy exterior parts. It is already in use for non-structural complex parts like interior glareshields, and the new metallic placement technology has HUGE potential. It is revolutionary for manufacturing, as you can make more complex parts exponentially faster than would ever be possible though casting, molding, or machining.

Cool stuff! I actually like this car. (This is the one Jay Leno drove)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1453006392.jpg

The usability of the part is completely determined by how durable it needs to be. You're not going to "print" pistons or rocker arms.... now this thing just might:
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As with pretty much anything now or ever- it's all a matter of your budget...

That's impressive Charles.

Yuppers... in my little corner of aerospace (AOG) we have found it invaluable for tooling, shop aids, and the like. We still don't make real "fly away" parts, but that is not far off. And we have been doing this for a lot longer than most folks would ever believe.