A New Dimension of Printing
You’ve all heard of it, but how does it work?
Have you ever thought of a product or object that you wanted to create, but have been limited by the materials around you? 3D printing is your solution.
As the name implies, 3D printing allows us to print 3 dimensional objects. Although it was created over 40 years ago, it more recently became a part of mainstream STEM fields due to its refined design and cheaper cost.
This, however, does not mean that mainstream 3D printing is the future of the industry. Rather, due to its low costs and ease of use, its future lies in commercial use; more specifically, building homes quickly and inexpensively!🏠
There are already many companies that have created 3D printed houses with no assembly required (take that IKEA), but that’s a story for another day. Instead, I am going to break down 3D printing and how it works.
Rather than covering all seven types of 3D printers in one article, I’m going to focus on one of the most common types, which is “fused deposition modeling,” or “FDM,” or more generally, “material extrusion.”
Although there are many small and less important parts, FDM printers consist of 4 main parts: an arm that can move on an X, Y, and Z axis, a build platform in which the object is printed (not always necessary), the filament, and the extruder that releases the filament (think a little volcano).
To use a FDM printer, you must first upload a 3D model to the printer. Next, the arm will move to the bottom of the base and the extruder will begin to heat up the chosen filament. Filaments are usually a thermoplastic polymer, most commonly Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), due to its high weight to strength ratio.
When the material reaches its melting temperature, much like a hot glue gun, the melted PLA is then expelled out of the nozzle using a motor on the arm. The extrusion head moves along the plane and follows the coordinates provided by the 3D rendering. The arm moves one Y layer at a time, placing one layer on top of the previous.
Although it varies between models, FDM printers can print as fast as 100mm/s. This swiftness allows for quick and effective small scale printing. It is perfect for prototyping, making toys and tools, and almost anything else that can be made of plastic that is smaller than the printer.
Due to the recent boom in interest regarding 3D printing, there are a plethora of FDM printers, each at a different size and price. Reaching prices as low as $200, the barrier to entry has never been lower, exposing many students to this revolutionary tech. 3D printers will have a profound impact on younger generations and inspire many more students to pursue a STEM field. This is because 3D printing allows for a hands on experience with engineering and technology, that is currently unrivaled. Who knows, 3D printing might be the cusp of a new industrial revolution.
Thank you for reading my article! I hope you learned more than you knew before clicking. I’m a Sophomore at The Buckley School and am currently an innovator at The Knowledge Society! I would love to hear any feedback about my article, and I encourage you to connect with me on my Linkedin so we can continue the conversation!
