3D Printers: Are They The Future?

Why 3D-printers are not having a full impact on the production of products

By J.Elliott

3d printers are becoming more affordable than ever, and more and more can be made from them. And more people are using them, like Jackson from the RCMMS FTC team who remarked, ”We’re 3d printing parts for the FTC robot, this is saving us money and helping the robot.” With this excitement, you would expect factories to use 3D printers and other technologies like 3D printing.

The Basics

There are 2 types of 3d printers. FDM (fused deposition modeling) and SLA (stereolithography apparatus). The simplest of the bunch is FDM. As Tony Hoffman states, “At its most basic, 3D printing is a manufacturing process in which material is laid down, layer by layer, to form a three-dimensional object.” On the other hand, SLA printing is more complicated. As 3D Hubs says, “The build platform is first positioned in the tank of liquid photopolymer, at a distance of one layer height for the surface of the liquid. Then a UVB laser creates the next layer by selectively curing and solidifying the photopolymer resin. The laser beam is focused on the predetermined path using a set of mirrors, called galvos. When a layer is finished, the platform moves at a safe distance, and the sweeper blade re-coats the surface. The process then repeats until the part is complete.”

The disadvantages of 3d printing

As amazing as 3d printing sounds, there are many disadvantages to it. One disadvantage would be the time that it takes to print an object. As 3D insider.com says, “They are slow when it comes to manufacturing many objects. Depending on the printer size and quality, it can take several hours to days to print. The more work involved with product development, the slower the printers.” Furthermore,3D printers rely on plastics to print, but as we start running out of oil, plastics will become much more expensive. Plastics also don’t break down well in landfills, or, as 3D insider.com says “The plastic byproduct ends up in landfills negatively affecting the environment.”

Is 3D-printing the future?

3D printing is the future only for some areas. As companies have been trying to speed up their assembly lines, 3D printers would not be viable because of its slow speed, thus not using them. Though, other industries like the medical, jewelry, custom gifts, and prototyping are using 3D printing. In the medical field doctors are printing human organs from special 3d printers called bio printers. “A firm in San ­Diego, ­California, ­announced that it had transplanted printed human-liver tissue into mice and that this tissue had survived and worked.” Says the editors of the Economist.

In the prototyping stage, 3d printing is letting designers make lots of prototypes easily and cheaply. “ In Manufacturing, you make multiple prototypes, 3D printing is quickly changing the manufacturing industry all over the globe. Not only is it more affordable than ever to create prototypes... This model of building products is starting to gain more attention, and it’s expected to be the new normal in the near future.” Says Wendy Dessler from machinedesign.com. 3D printing has also changed RCMMS, in the innovation and design class where Aayush Roy is building a playhouse. He says, “We’re printing a pirate playhouse, and we did not have many resources to buy the actual pirate playhouse, so we printed it.”

In conclusion, 3d printing has lots of applications in the real world like medical, prototyping, and custom gifts; and though some of its drawbacks include slow speeds and limited materials, 3D printing is still an amazing technology with more to be added.