7 Things You Didn’t Know About 3D Printing

After my previous post on interesting facts about diamonds, I am back with another post. In this post, I am going to tell you about some of the most uncommon things about 3D printing. So let’s start with its origin.

1. ALL THIS BEGAN IN The 80’s:

3D printing is older than you can guess. Though it has created a buzz only in last decade, this beast was around us from the 80’s.

Pretty surprising, isn’t it?? a

Anyways all this begin in 1984 when chuck hills invented a technology named stereolithography.

This technology uses UV rays to solidify photopolymer that created 3D parts layer by layer. And thus the stone of 3d printing was laid.

After a year later i.e. in 1985 materialise CEO Fried Vancaraen was busy making his own non-computer FDM models. which stands for fumbling deposition modelling the non-computer technique that preceded 3d printing five years later Mr Vancarean founded materialise, the first ever company of 3d printing. And this is how 3d printing was born.

The first statue created by fried was his bird watching girlfriend with her dog using FDM.

2. YAY!! MOVIES:

Yes to your ultimate surprise 3D printing is being already used or I must say very efficiently exploited in movies. 3D printing is mainly used for printing props in movies. The traditional props are a bit expensive to create and to repair. Thus spending time and money for props is not what a producer approves of. 3D printed props are easy to repair, quick to build, and cost-effective.

Now to make this more familiar to you and to surprise you a bit, movies like Ironman, the hobbit, real states, paranormal, Avengers have been using this technology for a while.

Yes now you understood how all those action scenes are actually managed cost effectively

3. LET’S EXPLORE IT IN SPACE:

Yeah! you heard it right, 3D printing is launching into space. NASA has always been the forerunner in this technology. It is planning to send robots into space ahead of astronauts to construct buildings and required infrastructure on the lunar surface. Now, that’s what we call an intelligent move.

 

In July 2014 NASA announced that it had created a full 3D model of ETA Carinae Nebula. This star is 7500 light years away from us and is double the size of the sun and a lot more in terms of energy explosion. This 3D model will help scientist at NASA for gaining information about the mechanism of formation and working of this enormous cloud and dust product.

4. WALT DISNEY LIKES IT TOO!!

It was on the radar of media that Walt Disney will be creating a breakthrough in 3D printing technology. And finally, Disney research has filed a patent for 3D printing technology that uses high-intensity light to harden photosensitive resin in a single process, thus removing the need for layer by layer printing.

Disney claims its technology could print in minutes what others take hours to print. Disney names their technology as 3D printing by “volumetric addition through selective curing of a fluid matrix”. Their patent stated that currently, 3D printing is extremely slow.

For example, it takes several hours to print a single 3D object even if the 3D object is relatively small. The conventional 3d printing technology is limited by its speed, by the speed of its mechanism of moving the print head to each new position on a print layer. While our technology very effectively eliminates this.”

Disney has also the patent for layered fabric 3D printer. If you want to have some experience with 3d printing technology then you can go for 3D pen for kids. This entertainment giant never fails to surprise me.

5. ADVANCED DEFENCE SYSTEM

3D printing has significantly contributed to defence system. It has efficiently and cost-effectively produced complex weapons with a minimum amount of time. Researchers claim to build weapons that will be too small to be detectable. This has started some ethical debate around the world.

6. FORGING WILL BE EASIER THAN EVER:

This point came out in between a discussion of me and my friend. This is a valid point. The conventional printers are too slow to make fake coins and aren’t cost effective either. Don’t be judgemental frauds too have to think about cost effectiveness after all they are in a business. Anyways, with progressing technology 3D printing is and will be seeing a cost drop. This is a better option for frauds to go for then the conventional one.

Already we have Laser Scanning Equipment technology, which can scan objects, convert them into CAD file, modify and reprint as many times as you want.

7. ETHICAL DILEMMAS:

This not really a new term for guys, I guess there always some ethical issues related to any breakthrough in science be it for bioprinting, nuclear weapons or even 3D printing. 3D printing is growing at an alarming rate and so its political, ethical and religious concerns.

In 2012 a United state citizen has already created a 3D printed gun. He shared its blueprints on the Internet and this saw 10,000 downloads in first 2 hrs. He even finally managed to fire it successfully, after which he was arrested.