The Endless Possibilities of 3D Printing Essay

During this last decade a machine called a 3D printer has taken off and is believed to soon be in the homes of almost every family in the United States. It’s basically a computer printer that creates a 3-dimentional object by stacking material layer by layer on top of each other. You can design these objects through modeling software or

3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital design. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process the desired object is created by laying down successive layers of material (usually molten alloy or plastics) until the entire object is formed. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.

As 3D printing transitions from commercial manufacturing use to personal private use individuals will have the ability to print any design. Products can range from a pair of shoes to complicated engineering designs, life-saving devices, prosthetic limbs and weapons that pass airport security. In the future we will likely see printable medications and

The technology of 3 dimensional printing has been growing rapidly. So much that now with less than $1000 anyone could buy their own 3D printer kit and build one themselves.(Hacking & Maker Tutorial) Granted, the process of putting it all together will take a bit of time. It’s not easy, but anyone that’s good with their hands will enjoy piecing it together. Why someone would need a 3D printer in their house is still somewhat baffling, but ton’s of interesting things could be made for everyone in the family.

Near term here means at least a decade, if not longer. 3D printing outperforms traditional ways of making complex objects. For example, the aerospace industry is having great success at making jet engine components and rocket engine nozzles with 3D

There are a few pressing matters regarding the impact of 3D printing on society including security risks and accountability when a tragedy occurs as a result of manufactured items. However, 3D printing has a beneficial impact in different fields. One positive impact of 3D printing is the new industry software developers can pursue since there is a need to build and maintain user friendly software for 3D printing. 3D printing also reduces the time to necessary to

3D printing is definitely a huge advancement in Technology! However, very controversial. Although, it has multiple benefits in our society in Medical health practices & Engineering speed, it can also be used for illegal purposes. Now, does the bad outweigh the good? That is the question debated today. I see the whole concept in only 2 large points. It will greatly help people who are desperately in need for transplant organs. It will drastically reduce the organ waiting list and once perfected, our life span should be bumped up a decade or so. On the other hand, what if someone down the road you'll be able to completely recreate a human being in it's entirety? Would we harvest them for their organs? Would it be fair? What if it falls in the

Three dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is taking the world by storm and is said to be “the next big thing”, the next revolution, or as big as the Internet. President Barack Obama stated in his 2013 State of the Union address that 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost anything (Gross, 2013). However, will 3D printing have a positive effect on the future of our society looking at the effects on the manufacturing businesses, healthcare, and consumer home printing? To answer this question we will explore the current technology and how it is currently being used in manufacturing businesses, healthcare, and consumer home printing and, prospects for future use in these areas. We will explore the limitations and advantages of the 3D printing technology. Referencing trade journals, textbooks, popular opinion, and expert opinions in the fields of business, management, engineering, and computer technology to evaluate the societal effects of 3D printing for our future.

The 3D printing industry had a little controversy. This controversy revolves around a small start up in the Allentown, PA area called “Just3DPrint”. Company is founded by four college students who had a dream, “offer 3d printing services”. The controversy does not revolve around their printing service, but it involves two powerhouses, Thingiverse; a website that allows 3d modelers to share their creations for “free” in a non-commercial manner and Ebay, the largest auction website in the world.

It gives people power to create anything through knowledge and technology. According to Eddie Krassenstein, a co-founder and director of the largest 3D printing news publications on the web gave background information, on the history of 3D printers. The first 3D printer took 6-8 weeks to print an object, was invented by Charles Hull on March 9, 1983 (Eddie Krassenstein). With the advancement of technology, 3D printers can now printer within hours. As reported by, Robert Green a cadalyst author, a CAD programmer and an expert in CAD management expounds that, Three-dimensional printers are fast and easy to use nowadays. The printers allows people to print within hours instead of waiting weeks for your object to arrive. 3D printers use “plastics, nylon, rubber like materials, etc.” (Green 2). Mashable, a YouTube channel that uploads videos of the latest innovation in technology, global news, entertainment, and more. When we have downloaded the software into the computer and have a “blueprint or downloaded a design from thingiverse, then you can print” (Mashable). Thingiverse is a website where anyone can download free drawings and blueprints to various 3D objects and print them three dimensionally. After all the measurements of the object is correct and the design complete. You can send it or transfer it to the printer to print

To start off with a basic definition a 3D printer is a machine ranging in size from a pen to that of a tank (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2697306/Oar-Fully-functioning-plastic-boat-created-using-worlds-biggest-3D-printer.html). They create the desired design by continously spraying or to a surgical precision laying layers of material on top of each other layer to form the design that was created through one of the many programs made to create 3D printer designs. 3D printers can use a multitude of sources to create their three dimensional final products. These sources can include but are not limited to plastic polymers, titanium, aluminum, iron, steel, and almost any ductile metal or propane product that can be heated and placed without forming into a gas or melting to a point of no return. Of course these aren’t just typical polymers or metals they have been mixed with other certain chemicals and materials to give the materials new found properties. The cost of these 3D printers can be anywhere from $140 dollars all the way up to $846,000 (3ders.org). These are just the consumer models! Take a second to imagine the industrial and prototype models which are even bigger and more complex. When making the product the 3D printer creates it in a chamber where an arm like machine continuously lays material and forms the

The 3D printing has certainly taken technology to a storm providing major solution in various industries and a step ahead in man-made new age technology. Be ready to enter into a world of 3D print technology that can be a huge leap over the human innovation and would make life

The concept of 3D printing got a lot of businesses attention, from airplane and space industries to house appliance companies. Every business and industry is thinking of ways to utilise 3D printers to their own benefit, not just business and industries, also schools, governments and individual groups of people. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing technique whereby objects are printed layer by layer through a series of slices, they work in a similar way to normal desktop printers but instead of ink, the 3D printers use other ranges of material powders. All printers use CAD or drafting software that calculates each slice size and they determine exactly how each of them should be constructed to fit in

As with any new technology, 3D printing will encounter competition among vendors and across all tiers of quality. As the product becomes easier to duplicate and manufacture and as equipment costs go down, the number of competitors will increase..

3D printing is a technology that was invented in the early 1980s by a man named Charles Hull (Ventola, 2014). Since its creation, 3D printing has branched into many different aspects of the world and is being utilized in fields like the automotive industry, medicine and is even being used for everyday purposes. Later on, Charles Hull founded a company called 3D Systems which developed the first ever 3D printer. In 1988, Hull and his company 3D Systems, put forth the first commercially available 3D printer. From this point on, 3D printing would be advanced and evolved to the point where it would have the opportunity to create a revolutionary impact on the world we