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The Fundamental Concept Of Additive Manufacturing Essay

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3. What is 3D printing?

3 D printing also known as additive manufacturing or stereolithography or rapid prototyping has been predominantly explored for the past few years. 3D printing technology is called additive manufacturing because the material is built from scratch, without any loss in existing volume of an object by chipping, drilling or cutting. (Tony Hoffman, 2016). The fundamental concept of additive manufacturing is printing an object by successive deposition of layers of various materials. Before an object can be 3D printed, it first has to be sliced into thousands of horizontal and vertical planes in Computer Aided Design (CAD). There are similar software like CAD which are used for the purpose of 'Slicing '. Some of these software are CAM- Computer Aided Manufacturing and 3D Scanner. These horizontal and vertical planes together make up the 3D model of the object. Once a virtual design of the object is prepared, also called as ‘the feed’, a file in the ‘.stl’ format is provided to the printer which then prints the desired object. Though the basic outcome of 3D printing is same, different technologies have been developed as per its need in the industry. Based on personal requirements, an object can be customized on small as well as large-scale.
As 3D printing continues to grow and evolve, a number of companies are establishing their mark in this area. 3D printing not only involves the printing of an object, but it is a step by step process ultimately

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