3D printing is a phenomenon of creating a solid object with the help of additive layering. Today, 3D printing is everywhere, in classrooms, small-scale businesses, and industrial-scale businesses. You can access a 3D printer comfortably by visiting a library, university, or community center. Various community centers allow people to use their machines.
Anyone can buy a 3D printer online. Therefore, 3D printing is becoming an everyday use technology in households. People who pursue arts and crafts as a profession or hobby buy 3D printers to build miniature sets and figurines.
The applications of 3D printing are extensive in multiple fields on eclectic scales, and industries and households are using this technology for their benefit.
History of 3D Printing
The origin of this technology is in Japan in the 1980s. Dr. Hideo Kodama invented a layer-by-layer approach to make prototyping faster, and he used a photosensitive resin that one can polymerize by UV light. In the 1980s, engineers and researchers started working on stereolithography.
Stereolithography is the process of creating an intricate geometrical pattern with the help of 3D printing.
Charles Chuck Hull introduced his first-ever 3D printer, STL file format, and digital slicing in 1987. The SLA-1 was the beginning of a new technology that gave birth to new ideas and innovative additions to the market. Industrial manufacturing in the 1990s had non-addictive methods to make prototypes and metal structures.
The manufacturing industry used the subtractive approach for creating prototypes. In 1988 the process of selective layer sintering was introduced by Carl Deckard.
Scott Crumb founded Fused Deposition Modeling in 1989. After 1989, technological advancement was at its peak. In 1993, MIT invented inkjet printers for paper printing, which inspired the Z402, the first3D printer by Z Corp.
1993 also witnessed the wax 3D printers, and 3D printed jewelry. In the first half of the 1990s, 3D printing was expensive and slow. Technology was not as domestic as it is today.
From 1996 and forward, 3D printing became a crucial part of industries. In 1999, scientists created the first bio-print with the help of 3D technology. Scientists succeed in synthesizing the human bladder. From 1999 to 2002, the industry started experimenting with colored models.
From 2004 to 2005, Dr. Adrian Bowyer presented the idea of self-replicating printers. The 3D industry became HD.
After 2009 the domestication of 3D technology began. Manufacturers made the 3D printers affordable for the masses, and today we see newer models helping in homes and large-scale industries.
The Printers that came after 2014 marked the use of a 3D printer in space. In 2016 additive technology was used by manufacturers.
Contemporary Market
The value of the 3D printing industry was 70M in 2017, and it is estimated to grow to 40 billion. It was estimated to be a 13.84-billion-dollar industry in 2021. This rapid growth is possible because multiple 3D printing industries have automated industrial corporations.
Today companies like Massivit 3D are dominating the 3D printing market. The company has introduced direct casting and isotropic 3D models. One aspect of 3D printing that companies are working on today is cutting the time it takes to print models.
The company has already shortened the time to print a 3D design from weeks to days. Its innovative solution is to reduce the steps to make a 3D prototype from 19 phases to 4 simple steps.
Companies like 3D Systems, Stratasys, and Relativity space are also taking center stage in contemporary solutions for 3D technology.
Future of 3D Printing
Tomorrow's 3D printing is promising. The industry is making its mark in the construction business, and companies have built printers to make houses and buildings by layering construction materials. Researchers are using new materials for 3D printing. They are developing compact models that work faster.
3D printing will be able to end homelessness, repair fragile ecosystems, and help injured animals by building body parts within a few hours.
One problem that 3D printers have today is finishing. The finishing of the product is not as good as it could be. Many investors are showing great interest in this industry and its automation. According to an estimate, the coming five to ten years are flourishing for the 3D printing industry and its refinement.
COMMENTS