Digital Media Concepts/3D Printing

The technology which refers three dimensions has been around since the 1980s. Nowadays, 3D technology is available to everyone because of the improvements of the technology.In most of cases,the 3D printer would extrude hot plastic that cools quickly.It is like a hot glue gun.It would Place heated liquid plastic at the programmer preset, then let the plastic solidify. Different from the original 2D printer, it contains not only X and Y dimensions, 3D printer contains X,Y,Z dimensions. The Z dimensions could provide the item which would be printed have thickness so that people call it 3D. This technology is applied in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, construction, engineering and construction (AEC), automobile, aerospace , dental and medical industry, education, geographic information system, civil engineering, guns and other fields. Today, 3D printing is no longer a strange term, and its potential is still being explored by all walks of life. With the technological innovation, 3D printing technology has gradually developed from the commercial area to the civilian level. This trend benefited from a substantial drop in consumable costs, using of equipment more convenient and improving the quality of finished products. Therefore, 3D printing has entered the modern life, and it is not hard to imagine how the 3D printing technology will evolve in the future.

History
Today, 3D printing technology is widely used in various fields. Many people think that this is a new technology emerging in the last few years. But, the fact is not. The concept of 3d printing technology could be traced back to eighties of last century, and the development of 3D printing technology can be roughly summarized as three stages. In 1981, Dr. Hideo Kodama, who worked for the Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute (NMIRI), first proposed the concept of 3D printing. The material used for the process was a photopolymer-a type of light-activated resin. This was a time when the first solid, 3D printed object came to be. The earliest commercial 3D printing manufacturing technology was the United States inventor, Charles Hull.

In 1984, Hull invented a new technology, stereolithography (SLA or SL), which the designers is able to create their 3D models using digital data files, and then upload the files to the printer to complete real 3D objects.

In 1992, the world's first 3D printer SLA-250 come out. Also, in the same year, another company, DTM Inc., invented the first selective laser sintering (SLS) machine to the world. SLS works by shooting a laser at a powdered material rather than a liquid. However, due to technical barriers, those early models could complete an object with complex structure, plus the machines were too expensive for investors, 3D printing technology did not obtain too much attention at that time.

Between 1999 and 2010, 3D printing technology ushered in its second phase. Because of the development of 3D printing technology and exploiting of new materials, even though public was still unfamiliar with 3D printing technology, the medical field has found the potential possibility of 3D printing. Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s scientists reconstructed the world's first man-made organ, a human bladder. After that, various parts of human organs were manufactured. Since then, more industries are beginning to focus on 3D printing technology to explore new possibilities.

Types of Printing
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is what most common 3-D printing. FDM uses a variety of plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and PLA (polylactic acid) that make them fall within a range of melting points and that fuse when melted and re-solidified. The most common arrangement for an FDM printer is called a Cartesian print engine because it uses basic Cartesian coordinates system (X, Y, Z) to create the printed objects. It bases on a fixed plane X and Y print-head and movable Z print bed, which bases on a fixed plane X axis, while the Y axis is controlled by moving the print bed itself and the Z axis is accomplished by moving the whole print-head system vertically upwards.

Stereolithography is a kind of 3D printing that involves a light-sensitive resin(Photopolymer) and lasers. The liquid resin is contained in the body of the printer, then the printing would happen inside the resin with the building plate moves up and down. Same as FDM, The stereolithography would print from layer to layer. Differently, Stereolithography could have more detail on object because it doesn't have the size limit of the print-head. However, it would cost more for printing materials.

Selective Laser Sintering(SLS) is similar to stereolithography. They both use lasers to solidify a loose substrate. SLS's print substrate is powder. It would use high-energy lasers to fuse sections of a powder together.SLS could go with any materials, including most of metals. It means SLS could be used in printing mechanical parts that would directly usable in engineering project.

Types of Plastic
ABS(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)is the most common substrate for fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers. It is strong,slightly flexible and extrudes cleanly at 220° and 240° Celsius. These are what plastic 3D printing needs. The environment required is strict. It need to be operate at a constant temperature without blow. Otherwise,there will be a crack on the product.

PLA(polylactic acid) is the second- most popular printing substrate. It need lower temperature while printing. PLA doesn't require heated plate, and it would has less influence by outside environment changing. PLA is far more pleasant when printing than ABS.

PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) is an industrial potentiate filament which is stronger than PLA. It could use for food containers and utensils.

Taulman Nylonis an adaptable and strong printing material. It's usually used for scientific experimental apparatus and moving part of solar cars.