Software and hardware have developed rapidly in the last few decades. Prototyping with additive technology continues to be one of the fastest and most cost-effective methods. While prototyping and additive technologies are always changing, so are the means of production.
Today, the term Additive Manufacturing (AM) is more commonly used further downstream in the production phase of product development.
What is 3D Printing Technology?
3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing builds 3D models by coating materials. Objects are created following the specifications set by a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or digital 3D model. AM can use a number of materials from polymers, metals, glass, ceramics, foams, gels and more.
Additive manufacturing applications include industrial tools, customized products, production parts, visualization tools in design and more.
Simply, A 3D printer machine is a tool for creating 3 (three) dimensional objects originating from digital files. Creating a three-dimensional (3D) printed object can be achieved by using an additive process.
In the additive manufacturing process, an object can be created by placing thin layers sequentially until the object is formed according to the shape you want. Each of these layers can be seen as a horizontal cross that is thinly sliced through the object which ultimately forms a 3-dimensional object.
How 3D Printing Works
The materials used in the 3D printing process are quite varied, ranging from plastic, rubber, ceramic, to metal. The printing process begins by creating a digital model first with CAD (Computer Aided Design) software or you can also use similar modeling software.
Next, the digital model can be broken down into layer by layer which will then be printed in stages using 3D printer technology. Each layer will be added continuously when printed, so that it can form a complete three-dimensional object.
The process used by 3D Printing technology
1. VAT polymerization
Sections are made layer by layer in vats of liquid photopolymer resin. Ultraviolet (UV) light hardens the resin while the platform moves downward after each layer hardens.
2. Laminate Sheet
The thin sheets are bonded together in several layers to form a single piece.
3. Powder Bed Fusion (PBF)
An ultra-fine powder coating is laid on top of the building platform and then bonded by a laser, electron beam or thermal print head. PBF is used by several AM technologies, including Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), selective heat sintering, direct metal laser melting and electron beam melting.
4. Jetting Material
The print head moves along the x, y and z axes to distribute the photosensitive material layer by layer. The material is then cured with UV light.
5. Binder Jetting
The binder is deposited into a powder, bonding layers one at a time — used for metals, sands and ceramics in powder/granular form.
6. Directional Energy Deposition
The laser is attached to the 4 or 5 axis filament sleeve of the raw material or melted powder.
7. Material Extrusion
The heated nozzle distributes the coils of the thermoplastic polymer in a continuous stream, depositing the material layer by layer to build the part.
Additive Manufacturing Benefits
If you are looking for an economical solution for your project, AM can be the right choice. Rather than assembling your product from many components or using multiple machines and processes, building a product may be as simple as a good design, the right materials, and a single device. It also results in a lighter product.
By choosing additive manufacturing, your product can be marketed quickly. Functional integration and adaptation can be designed directly into the product, reducing the number of development cycles and enabling the product to be produced quickly at lower costs. The benefits of additive manufacturing include:
- Simple Manufacturing Free from Complex Processes or Materials
- Rapid Product Development to Market
- Light Spare Parts
- Create Custom & Complex Geometry
- Visual & Functional Prototype
- Lower Cost Than Traditional Manufacturing
- 3D Printing Same Day & Next Day
3D Printing vs Injection Mold
3D Printing and injection printing are very different manufacturing processes. 3D Printing is an additive manufacturing method in which parts are fabricated layer by layer until a product is created. 3D Printing is suitable for projects that require lower product volumes, complex and intricate designs, and any project that may require rapid changes early in the product development cycle.
Injection molding uses a mold into which a liquid material is injected. After the material cools, the part is removed from the mould. Injection molding is especially suitable for large volumes, uncomplicated or delicate parts and parts requiring increased strength.
Advantages of 3D Printing Technology
As time goes by, the trend for 3D printer machines continues to rise and is in demand by many people. This product is not only used for making certain products. Currently, several companies are also using it for marketing purposes or marketing the products they are developing.
1. Quick Prototype
Rapid prototyping is the process of creating a physical part of a CAD design. The resulting rapid prototype can test the functionality or efficiency of a product design before the part is reproduced in larger volumes. Additive manufacturing methods allow companies to quickly prototype.
Benefits of rapid prototyping include the ability to gather valuable feedback from clients and investors, receive funding, make quick changes early in the product development cycle.
Rapid prototypes can also reduce wastage, save time, and communicate concepts effectively. Rapid prototypes can also be used to test fit, size, and overall appearance.
2. 3D Printed Material
Polymers, metals and ceramics are the main types of materials used for the manufacture of additives / 3D Printing. Additional materials may include various types of paper, food, or polymer adhesive sheets. Common polymers for 3D Printing include Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Polycarbonate (PC). Polymers can be combined to make a variety of other materials that have different structural and aesthetic properties.
3D printed metals include steel, titanium, aluminum and cobalt chrome alloys. 3D printed ceramic materials are porcelain, silicon carbide and silica/glass. The right material must match the appropriate additive manufacturing technology. Whatever additive material or technology you choose, you can expect high quality parts from 3D Printing.
Benefits of 3D Printing to Help Product Marketing
1. Create a Product Prototype
The first thing that can be done with a 3D printer is to make a prototype or model of the product being developed. With this 3D model, promotions can be done directly without using too much animation on the computer. The target market or clients can directly hold the prospective product to be sold.
Making prototypes using 3D printer technology is very easy to do. The team must first design the model that will be used as media for promotion, then make revisions according to the leader's or superior's directions and print the final design.
After printing, check again whether there are any parts that are wrong or not. If there is a part that is wrong, the design can be corrected until it is perfect. After producing a perfect prototype, you can immediately use it to carry out direct promotions and it will be more effective because clients can see and feel it directly.
2. Utilizing Old Models for New Products
One of the biggest mistakes that a company's marketing team often makes is wasting funds! To carry out promotions they will do anything from renting large billboards to massive promotions in the media. Apart from that, the promotional tools used are also often disposable.
If you use a 3D machine, waste can be reduced! Especially those related to direct promotions. This funding emphasis can be done because several models or prototypes that are no longer used in promotions can then be used again by recycling them to make 3D printing materials.
Even though these savings are not as big as funds for offline promotions and media, at least the funds can be used for other things. For example, buying filament for a 3D printer machine and using it again for subsequent promotional purposes. This way, the marketing department will not always be under budget.
3. Make Marketing More Interactive
The biggest difficulty in marketing is making the atmosphere more interactive. If marketing is only done with ordinary presentations, it will most likely not generate much interest from clients. It's different if this process is carried out very interactively. The chances of it going well are great.
The role and benefit of 3D printing models here is to make the marketing or product promotion process run smoothly. In fact, with this model potential buyers or clients can see it directly and make modifications according to their wishes. From this model you will also know what the advantages and disadvantages of the product are.
Discussions conducted with this 3D model will produce good constructive criticism for product development. Furthermore, the product can be immediately repaired and can be marketed immediately. If all promotional materials are only in data form, errors will not be visible even if it is only in the form of packaging.
4. Facilitate a "Visual Tour"
If you operate in the field of architecture and also interior and exterior services, providing a perfect appearance is an obligation. Clients should be provided with highly visual and comprehensive promotional materials. Several companies use computers and virtual tour technology.
By using virtual tour technology, marketing can be done in detail, but cannot be felt directly. Everything is only in virtual form and cannot be held. That is why 3D printers must be used to increase visualization and direct touch.
For example, to create a room design, you can make it into a 3D model. From this scale model it will be clear what the building that will be marketed will look like. Furthermore, making large mockups can also be done by combining many small components printed by a 3D printer.
5. Provide Perfect Details
The final benefit that can be obtained from 3D printing for marketing purposes is detail. With excellent detail, someone will know the advantages and disadvantages of a product that is being created. Details can be obtained from the 3D machine print results.
This machine for printing 3D models can usually be used to print designs to a certain scale and still provide perfect detail. You can use it to create 3D models of any type of product and still maintain perfect details.
The printing process with a 3D printer machine adjusts what is in the design. As long as the design provides perfect detail, the print results follow suit.
Benefits of 3D Printing in the Education Sector
Implementing 3D printing in educational programs is very beneficial for the learning process. Students receive tactile feedback on learning concepts that are difficult to represent using only standard learning materials.
Prepare students for their future careers and teach them skills valuable with 3D printing is a viable path that many schools are using today. It serves as an additional revolutionary tool to help in many areas of education and gives teachers a new way to convey their message.
1. Capture student interest
3D printing has the added benefit of keeping young learners interested through visual aids. The process of designing and then printing their creations both stimulates creativity, but the feedback from idea to creation makes for a learning process. Both are fun but more importantly it makes learning effective.
2. Stimulate interaction while in class
Using a 3D printer instantly turns any classroom into an interactive learning experience. Whether it's through printing skeleton parts to use for biology classes or creating prototypes for engineering classes, this process requires exploration through interaction and stimulates the learning process.
3. Help make it real
Difficult concepts become not only visible but also real. Whatever you would normally draw on a whiteboard, you can explain it through a model that students can touch and investigate from any angle.
4. Learn directly through 3D models
Especially for art and engineering classes, it's great to use prototyping skills to bring students' creative ideas and designs to life.
So that your child's skills & knowledge can increase, we recommend that you take the Robotics course at SARI Teknologi which focuses on the field of Technology & Innovation.
Benefits of 3D Printing in Manufacturing
Since 3D printing technology is widely used and accepted by consumer brands, let's find out the various benefits that can be used to achieve maximum profits by each industry.
1. Long lasting
Unlike traditional and subtractive manufacturing, additive manufacturing processes involve adding multiple layers of material to produce a part of an object.
As a result, the amount of wasted material is reduced. This is one of the main reasons why the process is long-lasting or sustainable.
2. Create designs freely
One of the main benefits of 3D printing is that it provides greater freedom in terms of product design and development. Typically, the geometry generation process is too expensive or inconvenient to achieve with the help of traditional subtractive methods. However, this technology has made it possible with its ability to create complex external and internal structures efficiently.
3. Fast marketing
Traditional manufacturing techniques require a set of tools, therefore it takes longer to produce a prototype. However, with 3D printing, the opposite is the case. This technology does not require tools so production time is faster.
4. Personalization
Personalization is a term that has been associated with technology since its inception itself. This is one of its main benefits, which is most profitable for the consumer goods industry. With this technology, it is easier to customize all types of products, from custom-made headphones to footwear.
5. Competent supply chain
Since technology is helpful in minimizing inventory and storage costs, it can help retailers to modify supply chain management. 3D printing technology offers make-to-order and on-site processes that help companies make supply chains more efficient and simultaneously reduce logistics and warehouse costs.
6. Accelerated development cycles
3D printing allows for much faster prototyping compared to traditional manufacturing techniques, such as CNC. In one example, 3D printing has helped consumer packaging company Toly shorten development time from months to days.
With CNC, which the company uses for prototyping before 3D printing, the time from design to prototype can take up to 3 weeks. Then, imagine how long it would take if the company wanted to make three or more iterations.
7. Tool manufacturing
Tool production and injection molding can also benefit from 3D printing. Thirty-nine percent of consumer products companies, surveyed by EY, see the value of improving traditional manufacturing with 3D printing tools.
For example, Unilever uses 3D printing for injection molding tools, producing prototype parts in finished materials for functional and consumer testing. Using the technology for molds helped the company reduce lead times for prototypes by 40 percent.
In another example, Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is using the latest 3D printing technology to modernize production at its Whitman manufacturing facility in the UK, where many prestigious skincare brands, and Jo Malone London perfume, are produced.
8. Less waste or little waste
In many instances, the manufacturing process requires the manufacturer to start with a larger quantity of materials than the finished product. Products are carved or molded from the material, leaving a lot of excess material. While there are many strategies for reusing excess materials in situations like these, it is better to prevent waste than to reuse.
Examples of 3D Printing Applications
The range of products you can create with a 3D printer is vast, and today's industries apply the technology to final products, not just prototypes. These are the benefits the AM industry has to offer across industries.
1. Small Business and Low Volume Production
3D printing is ideal for creating products quickly and easily, without requiring a small business or entrepreneur to create high-volume and expensive contracts. This gives companies the opportunity to test the waters, so to speak, allowing them to figure out what will work in the existing market.
Low volume production using 3D printers usually comes bundled with higher unit costs, where the requirements to test outweigh any cost considerations. However, that is now no longer the case, with technological developments in the industry lowering overall costs. AM is now a viable alternative to traditional manufacturing in terms of high volume production as well.
The fact that 3D printing opens up opportunities for small businesses cannot be underestimated, as it gives them the opportunity to compete with large multinationals. It also benefits consumers, with monopolies being easier for competitors to break.
2. Medical devices
3D manufacturing processes also benefit certain industries more than most, such as those selling medical devices. AM has been used extensively in the field, with patients benefiting from impression bone implants, for example. The precision that 3D printing offers to ensure each patient receives an implant that has been designed especially for them.
In addition, treatment often requires a rapid and adaptive production process, just as AM offers. This allows companies to build custom models relatively simply and do so in very low volumes. Think prosthetics for amputees, or 3D components to help patients with rehabilitation after an accident.
3. Construction Industry
Construction has a lot to gain from AM's growth. It can be used in a variety of applications, including extrusion, which includes cement or concrete, foams, and polymers. It can also be used for powder bonding as well as additive welding.
3D printing can be used across multiple sectors, with private, industrial, commercial and public projects able to take advantage of the advantages this technology offers to production processes: lower employee costs, significantly less waste and better functional integration.
There is an excellent example of this in Yaroslav, Russia, where a 3D-driven production process leads to the construction of entire residential buildings.
4. Creative Industry (Arts and Jewelry)
Perhaps an unexpected industry that benefits from 3D printing technology is a creative field, for example in jewelry making. This has allowed artists all over the world to ship intricate jewelry at low cost, while delivering unique designs with ease.
Closing
3D printing is a technology that can create objects that are the same as the digital model in a short time. This technology makes things easier in all fields from industry to health.
That's a little explanation and information that erzedka.com can share regarding the discussion of 3D printers or better known as 3 Dimensional printers, actually there are still a lot of discussions that can be reviewed about this printer from the types of 3d printers, 3D printer options, and Classification of 3D Printers with various raw materials for printing, hopefully we can write about it in the next session, thank you