IS THE 3D PRINTED FUTURE HERE YET? It’s not technological advances, but a new approach to systems thinking that is creating a quiet revolution in design manufacturing, says Jennifer Loy, Professor of Product Design at University of Technology Sydney. In 2018, 3D printing is still strengthening the role of the independent designer maker and product artist, allowing individuals access to bespoke digital fabrication for forms not previously possible either economically or geometrically. Over the last few years, 3D printing processes have expanded, with over 40 different technologies now under the 3D printing banner, the latest being gel-based, liquid printing demonstrated by the MIT self-assembly lab and the Carbon 3D CLIP system (Continuous Liquid Interface Production) at one end of the scale and robot-arm construction, exemplified by MX3D’s 3D printed bridge, at the other. Meanwhile, metal 3D printing is becoming more accessible, with the ability for it to be studio-based according to Desktop Metal – though the cost is currently beyond the budget of independent makers. In 2018, the future is not quite here. This is not because of technological advances, though they have been rapid, or dramatic statement pieces being created becoming main stream, such as the Zaha Hadid Architects’ 3D printed chairs, but rather it’s the quieter revolution that’s occurring in systems thinking enabled by the technology. GE Additive are leaders in demonstrating the impact of design for additive manufacturing (the technical name for 3D printing). The 3D printed LEAP fuel nozzle GE developed in 2012 was certified, reducing 20 parts to a single one, and creating a weight reduction, so crucial to the aviation industry, of 25%. Now GE has designed an advanced turboprop engine, reducing the weight by 5% and combining 855 parts into 12. The impact on their
business operations, such as supply chain management, is hard to overstate. For medical, recent advances have been significant not only because of the applications themselves, but because of the medical clearance now being granted for systems, such as the SI-bone iFuse Implant System.
Jennifer Loy, 2018, Bespoke polished aluminium handle, photo: cour tesy of the ar tist
For designers working in the creative industries, the advances of 3D printing can be seen in its acceptance and the ability to move beyond using it as a standalone fabrication technology, but working with it as part of a confluence of digital technologies, such as electronics, 3D scanning and digital communication, on connected products. 3D printing and associated digital technology allow for customisation based on personal data. Increasingly, products are designed to have an online life, storing and sharing information about the user, and be responsive, described as 4D products, such as through the use of e-textiles, conductive inks, chemically responsive inks, pneumatics and magnetised filament. Alongside digital immersion, a current megatrend is personal responsibility regarding the use of materials detrimental to the environment. Over the last few years the use of Polylactic Acid (PLA) has risen dramatically as the 3D printing community favours biodegradable plastics. Yet starch-based PLA, for example, while it will biodegrade inside the body when used for biostructures in under six months, needs
industrial composting facilities outside. It will sit in landfill alongside petroleum-based materials. Recently, there has been considerable research, by organisations such as Scion, into the production of bioplastics that, like PLA, are made from alternatives to petroleum, but will not biodegrade, and genuinely biodegradable materials for 3D printing, for example algae and wood pulp. Designers and architects, such as Emerging Objects, are increasingly experimenting with printing with organic materials, such as coffee grinds and salt. Creatively, 3D printing continues to inspire designers, such as Iris van Herpen, but in 2018, her 3D printed couture collection “Technology is simple, and nature is complex” demonstrates that 3D printed materials for fashion are finally soft and flexible. Whilst van Herpen remains avant-garde, wearable 3D printed fashion – integrated as features within designs, or incorporating e-textile technology, or as commercial garments, for example by Danit Peleg – is more feasible, and more visible. Danit Peleg embodies the attitude to 3D printing of the next generation of designers. Danit creates short runs on a desktop fused deposition modeller and sells online. 3D printing and digital communication technology allow her to be an independent designer and global entrepreneur. As 3D printed futures continue to emerge, independent designer makers have increasingly open access to international markets because designs can be sold as downloadable stereolithography (STL) files. There is a focus on software development of 3D printing in 2018, including the development of online platforms, such as Digital Forming, for designers to work on 3D printed products directly with clients. Design is by definition about the new, and for the designer working in a world enabled by 3D printing, every print can potentially become new either because it is customised or because the design has changed. For designers, maximising 3D printing involves a mindset not focussed on resolved solutions, but rather iterative, evolving products to be sold at different stages of their design life – traditional practice for designer makers and craftspeople. 3D printing removes many geometrical constraints of traditional fabrication, but also hints at a fluid role for designers in the future, where products are never finished, but continue to evolve, allowing for a greater degree of risk taking in design.
Jennifer Loy uts.edu.au/staff/jennifer.loy
3D Printing: The Future
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