3D Printing – Evolution and History

3D Printing – Evolution and History makenica.com/3d-printing-evolution-and-history February 15, 2021

The 3D printing industry has a rich past. It began with an unstable machine and ended up with anything that could give life to anything you have in mind.

Have you ever thought about how 3D printing started? If you do, this page is for you.

Keep reading as we take you on a ride down the memory lane from how 3D printing begins, evolves, and grows into what it is today.

3D printing is a tremendously growing industry because it can render almost everything from toys, clothes, sneakers, weapons, wheelchairs, and even organs like hearts. Yes, almost anything is possible with 3D printing services.

Can you envision a future in which anything is possible? We're getting to the realm of 3D printing.

What is 3D printing?

3D printing online, also named additive manufacturing, produces three-dimensional solid structures using a digital file. Before you come up with a 3D object, you have to go through additive processes.

The object is formed using many layers of material in the additive phase. Each of these layers is important to the creation of a 3D object.

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The layers are the thinly cut horizontal cross-section of the object. So, essentially, it's all accumulating layer by layer.

3d Printing History Charles Hull, the co-founder of 3D Systems, has initiated the development of 3D printing services. He developed stereolithography, a technology that created a physical 3D model based on digital data. This 3D technology is used to create a 3D model from an image so users can validate the concept before investing in a larger version.

3D Printing Milestones 1992 – 3D Structures developed the first SLA (stereolithographic apparatus) machine.

The procedure involved a UV laser solidifying photopolymer, a liquid with viscosity and a honey-like tint.

It rendered three-dimensional artifacts, layer by layer. The first machine was flawed, but it was promising because it could generate extremely complicated components.

1999 – 3D printing has led to new developments in medicine by manufactured organs.

Researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine developed the first lab-grown organ using a 3D printer.

A synthetic scaffold covered with the patient's cells was used. The procedure has little to no chance of rejection because it was performed with the patient's cell. This paved the way for the creation of modern engineering organ strategies.

2002 – The scientists developed a mini-functional kidney capable of filtering blood and generating diluted urine in the animal. This advancement led to greater priorities for the manufacture of organs and tissues using 3D printing technology.

2005 – Dr. Adrian Bowyer created RepRap, an open-source project to build a 3D printer capable of printing much of its own parts. The project intended to supply inexpensive RepRap units so that people could produce their own goods.

2006 – The first and foremost SLS (selective laser sintering) system has been made. SLS system uses a laser to combine components and produce 3D objects. This invention opened the way for mass customization and on-demand manufacturing of automotive parts and prostheses.

A machine with the ability to print multiple materials, including elastomers and polymers, was developed in the same year. The said machine also permits the processing of a single element with various densities or material properties.

2008 – The first self-replicating printer has come to life, enabling people to render more printers for family members or friends. The first human with a 3D-printed prosthetic leg walked the same year. Several parts of the knee, leg, foot, and socket were printed in the same complex structure without any assembly.

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2009 – DIY 3D Printer kits are on the market. In the same year, Dr. Gabor Forgacs, with the help of a 3D bioprinter, printed the first blood vessel.

2010 – Researchers and designers at the University of Southampton build and fly the world's first 3D-printed plane. The aircraft was only constructed in seven days with a budget of 5,000 pounds.

2011 – Urbee, the first 3D-printed car in the world, was built. It is sleek, environmentally friendly, and is made to be fuel-efficient and low-cost.

In the same year of 2011, 3D printing services offer 14K gold and sterling silver as materials, a cheaper choice for jewelry makers.

2012 – The Netherlands used a 3D printer to create a personalized three-dimensional lower jaw prosthetic inserted in an 83-year-old woman with a chronic bone infection.

2015 - A Swedish company, Cellink, introduced the first standardized commercial bioink, made from a seaweed material named non-cellulose alginate. The bio-ink can be used for tissue cartilage printing.

Later in the year, Cellink releases the INKREDIBLE 3D printer for bioprinting services, creating an affordable bioprinting market.

Later years - With the expiration of patents and open source projects, there are over 170 3D printer system manufacturers worldwide. This list includes Makenica, 3D Systems, Stratasys, Fusion3, Formlabs, Desktop Metal, Prusa, and Voxel8, among many others.

Different 3D Printing Technologies Stereolithography (SLA) Stereolithography (SLA) – SLA 3D printing Bangalore process is the first in the history of 3D printing. It's the oldest, so it's still being seen today.

Many printing techniques use a CAD file to handle an object, which is then translated to a format that a printer can understand. In this technology, the software processes the CAD model and produces the STL file containing each layer's information.

The whole procedure involves the subsequent layer by the layer printing process. There may be up to ten layers per millimeter. Until all the layers are printed, the object must be rinsed with a solvent. And put in an ultraviolet oven to complete the operation.

Digital light processing (DLP) DLP is somewhat similar to stereolithography. Larry Hornbeck of Texas Instruments was the founder of this technology in 1987. This is popular in projector manufacturing and is also applicable to mobile phones and 3D printing.

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DLP technology uses digital micromirrors on a semiconductor chip. While both DLP and SLA work with photopolymers, they use separate light sources. DLP uses more traditional outlets, such as arc lamps.

Besides, DLP uses a liquid crystal display panel mounted to the whole building material's surface. The material used for printing is a liquid plastic resin that is mounted in a translucent resin tube. The resin hardens easily when exposed to a significant volume of light.

The pace of printing is high. DLP produces more stable 3D structures with superior resolution compared to SL. It also requires less material resulting in lower costs and less pollution.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) FDM is the most popular and commonly used 3D printing technology. It helps you to print concept models and end-use items with an engineering-grade thermoplastic.

FDM is the only 3D printing technique that builds thermoplastic-grade parts that yield outstanding mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, making them very useful and desirable to manufacturers and engineers.

FDM Technology creates a 3D object layer by layer from bottom to top by heating and extruded thermoplastic filament. The whole method is similar but slower than stereolithography.

This technology uses special software to cut the CAD model into layers and measure how the printer extruder forms each layer. The printer heats the thermoplastic to its melting point and extrudes it through the nozzle to the base to create a platform around the calculated path.

The computer converts the object's dimension into the X, Y, and Z dimensions and monitors the nozzle and the base such that the calculated path is taken during printing.

This technology is used in car companies such as Hyundai and BMW and food companies such as Nestle and Dial. FDM technology is easy to use and can create complex geometries and cavities. Moreover, it is environmentally safe.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) This technology uses a laser as a source of power to create 3D artifacts. Carl Deckard, a Texas University student, and his mentor Joe Beaman discovered this technology in 1980.

SLS has some similarities to SLA but varies in the material used.

SLS uses powder material instead of liquid resin. In comparison, SLS does not use any support mechanisms since the item being printed is still covered by unsintered powder.

Like other technologies, SLS begins with the development of a CAD file, which is then translated to a.stl format using special tools.

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This technology enables nylon, ceramics, glass, and metals such as aluminum, steel, or silver. SLS is famous for customizing 3D objects due to its wide range of materials.

Selective laser melting (SLM) This technique also uses CAD data and creates a 3D object with a high-powered laser beam that fuses and melts metallic powders. Several sources consider SLM to be a subcategory of SLS, but the two technologies have significant variations.

In comparison to selective laser sintering, the SLM process completely melts the metal into solid 3D parts. SLM also uses a CAD file and some tools to break the CAD file into 2D layers.

Electronic Beam Melting (EBM) This technology is another form of additive manufacturing of metal parts. It is similar to SLM, although it also uses a powder bed fusion technique.

However, instead of using a high-intensity laser beam as the source of power, it uses an electron beam. This is the only distinction between the two, and the rest of the mechanism is the same.

EBM is sluggish and costly compared to SLM. Materials are also minimal. Some of the materials used are commercially pure titanium, Inconel 718, and Inconel 625. This technology focuses on medical and aerospace implants.

Laminated object manufacturing (LOM) Helisys Inc., a California-based corporation, designs this rapid prototyping framework.

During the LOM process, layers of adhesive-coated paper, plastic, or metal laminates are blended by heat and pressure.

They are then sliced into forms using a computer-controlled laser or knife. Postprocessing of 3D printer components requires machining and drilling.

This technology also begins with a CAD file that is later translated to an STL or 3DS format.

Binder Jetting Technology (BJ) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented BJ 3D printing. It's named by many other names, such as: - Powder Bed Printing - Inkjet 3D printing - Drop-on-the-powder - Binder Jetting (BJ) – the most common name in the world.

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BJ uses two types of powder-based material and a bonding agent. The bonding agent serves as a solid glue that binds together the powder layers.

The printer's nozzles extrude the binder in a liquid form similar to the standard 2D inkjet printer. After finishing each layer, the plate is lowered slightly to allow for the next one.

The procedure is replicated until the process is done.

This 3D printing technology does not give you high-resolution or over-rugged 3D artifacts. But this helps you to print pieces in full color.

BJ is used in the aerospace, automobile, and medical sectors.

Polyjet and Wax Casting - Material Jetting (MJ) Material Jetting is also called casting wax. Unlike other 3D printing technology, no one has invented MJ. This is known to be more of a technique than a real printing process. Jewelers have been using it for decades to make high-quality, customizable jewelry.

Take Away!

3D printing is an extremely innovative and valuable technology. It can build almost everything you have in mind, making it a very positive step forward in the fields of engineering and medicine.

Styles of 3d printers have evolved based on the technologies used. What's your favorite thing? Feel free to share with us in the comment section below and help others decide what type of 3D printing system they can have.

If you would like to read more about 3D printing, please feel free to review our website.

Read More : Fastrack your SLA 3D Printing with these popular Stereolithography Materials

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