Amazing 3D Printer

3D Printing

3D printing or additive manufacturing^[1] (AM) is any of various processes for making a three-dimensional object of almost any shape from a 3D model or other electronic data source primarily through additive processes in which successive layers of material are laid down under computer control.^[2] A 3D printer is a type of industrial robot.

Early AM equipment and materials were developed in the 1980s.^[3] In 1984, Chuck Hull of 3D Systems Corp,^[4] invented a process known as stereolithography employing UV lasers to cure photopolymers. Hull also developed theSTL file format widely accepted by 3D printing software, as well as the digital slicing and infill strategies common to many processes today. Also during the 1980s, the metal-sintering forms of AM were being developed (such asselective laser sintering and direct metal laser sintering), although they were not yet called 3D printing or AM at the time. In 1990, the plastic extrusion technology most widely associated with the term "3D printing" was commercialized by Stratasys under the name fused deposition modeling (FDM). In 1995, Z Corporation commercialized an MIT-developed additive process under the trademark 3D printing (3DP), referring at that time to a proprietary process inkjet deposition of liquid binder on powder.

AM technologies found applications starting in the 1980s in product development, data visualization, rapid prototyping, and specialized manufacturing. Their expansion into production (job production, mass production, anddistributed manufacturing) has been under development in the decades since. Industrial production roles within the metalworking industries^[5] achieved significant scale for the first time in the early 2010s. Since the start of the 21st century there has been a large growth in the sales of AM machines, and their price has dropped substantially.^[6] According to Wohlers Associates, a consultancy, the market for 3D printers and services was worth $2.2 billion worldwide in 2012, up 29% from 2011.^[7] Applications are many, including architecture, construction (AEC), industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering, dental and medical industries, biotech (human tissue replacement), fashion, footwear, jewelry, eyewear, education, geographic information systems, food, and many other fields.

In 2005, a rapidly expanding hobbyist and home-use market was established with the inauguration of the open-source RepRap and Fab@Home projects. Virtually all home-use 3D printers released to-date have their technical roots in the on-going RepRap Project and associated open-source software initiatives."The RepRap's Heritage". In distributed manufacturing, one study has found^[8] 3D printing could become a mass market product enabling consumers to save money associated with purchasing common household objects.^[9]