3D printer output examples

7 Examples of 3D Printing in the World Today

More and more, 3D printers are becoming much cheaper to purchase, and many experts don’t expect it to be too long before they become a commonality in households across the world. Manufacturing companies are also taking notice of the powerful abilities these machines provide companies and their production processes. Seemingly everyday brings forth another development that expands the limits of 3D printing. From medical devices to aircraft parts to shoes, 3D printing can virtually create anything you can thing of, it’s just a matter of scale.  Below are 7 real-world examples of 3D printing that can be seen today.

Your Source for 3D Printers: NeoMetrix Technologies, Inc.

NeoMetrix 3D Prints Custom Prosthetics for Marathon Runner.

3D printing has had a significant impact across the medical industry, from producing custom prosthetic legs for a marathon runner, to creating a model of the human heart to aide surgeons to making a new tail for an alligator that had its tail bitten off as a baby. Recently, a team from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago successfully conducted an experiment in which a mouse with 3D printed ovaries actually successfully birthed healthy pups. This is an incredible breakthrough, as there is now substantial belief that this could potentially work with humans given further research and experimentation.

Here’s some examples of 3D printing‘s benefits in the medical industry:

• Open Bionics Introduces Affordable Prosthetic Arm
• Medical Researchers Develop Revolutionary 3D Printed Cornea
• Development of Quick Connect Prosthetic Joints

Believe it or not, 3D printing has the ability to produce entire houses in buildings. This is a remarkable feat for the technology because it could potentially save lives when areas are enduring tough times from things such as natural disasters and war because emergency shelters can be constructed quickly and on-demand using 3D printing technology. How fast can they be built? In Moscow, Russia, a team used 3D printing to create a 400 square foot house in less than a day, just to point out one instance of the production speed.

In addition to this, 3D printing is also enabling the development of new architectural designs and visions that before were never possible. The design innovations are seemingly limitless. In Holland, there will soon be a small neighborhood consisting solely of 3D printed homes.

3D printing is even breaking design barriers in the culinary arts. Using a plastic 3D printer, users can actually print chocolate based off a digital design from 3D software. Companies have even 3D printed edible foods using ice cream, cookie dough, marzipan and hamburgers.

A very controversial topic has been the ability to 3D print fully functional firearms. Defense Distributed’s “Liberator” has been subject of hot discussion as it is a working plastic gun, created using 3D printing technology. Many believe this to be an extremely dangerous ability as there is the potential for any person with a 3D printer and the design blueprints can produce their own guns.

3D printed flip-top valve on the T-45 Goshawk breathing mask. Photo by Emanuel Cavallaro via NAVAIR.

In a more positive light, branches of the U.S. Military have benefited greatly from this ability. Already we have seen many instances of how 3D printing can aide soldiers in the battlefield and potentially save lives:

• U.S. Marine Corps Turns to 3D Printing
• U.S. Army Explores 3D Printing Stealthy Squid Drones
• U.S. Navy Will Depend On 1,000 3D Printed Parts by the End of 2018
• Marine Corps Seeks to 3D Print Drones, Save Thousands
• 3D Printed F-35 Part Saves U.S. Marines $70,000
• Department of Defense Unveils 3D Printed Drones Deployable from Fighter Jets
• EDA to Assess Usage of 3D Printing in Military Operations

NeoMetrix Firearm Case Studies:

• 3D Scanning and Reverse Engineering a Handgun Grip
• 3D Scanning & Reverse Engineering a Pistol Grip
• Development of a Magazine-fed Shotgun
• Reverse Engineering a Gun Component

5. Manufacturing

3D printing has become an extremely disruptive force in the manufacturing world, and many refer to it as the manufacturing solution of the future. The automotive and aeronautical industries, to name a couple, have experienced the benefits of 3D printing technologies first hand, and are beginning to integrate it into their production processes. The ability to 3D print both replacement parts and functional, new parts saves them significant, time and money.

• Choose 3D Laser Scanners for Manufacturing Quality Control
• Disruptive 3D Printing Forces Companies to Reconsider Manufacturing
• 3D Printing Yields Huge Savings in Tooling Costs for GM
• 3D Printing Growth Surpasses Traditional Manufacturing
• 3D Printing: Moving from Prototyping to Production
• 3D Printing: The Benefits of a Growing Technology

Additive manufacturing technologies even have impact in music. Already, we have seen working violins, flutes, banjos and more produced using 3D printing. At Sweden’s Lund University, the first ever live concert featuring all 3D printed instruments has taken place, and the show was a smashing success. In addition to complete instruments, 3D printing can also be used to create accessories such as custom mouthpieces.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about 3D printing is that users can basically create anything that they can design in 3D software. Some examples of how NeoMetrix has enabled out customers to bring their designs to reality are:

• 3D Modeling and Printing Game Characters for Superhero 2044
• Reverse Engineering & 3D Printing Commemorative SunRail Bridge
• Reverse Engineering & 3D Printing “Spirit of America” Awards for Inspired Bronze
• 3D Scanning, Reverse Engineering & 3D Printing American Flag Pins

What Can 3D Printing Be Used For? Here Are 10 Amazing Examples

It may seem distinctly low-tech compared to some of the many technology trends I write about, but 3D and 4D printing will have very wide applications – and could be particularly powerful when combined with other trends like mass personalization. In this article, I look at some of the surprising things that can now be created with 3D printers.

What Can 3D Printing Be Used For? Here Are 10 Amazing Examples

How does 3D printing work?

3D printing (also known as “additive manufacturing”) involves creating a 3D object from a digital file, building it up layer by layer. So, if you were to slice a finished 3D printed object open, you’d be able to see each of the thin layers, a bit like rings in a tree trunk.

Before printing anything, you need a 3D model of the object you’re trying to create. The computer model is then "sliced," essentially dividing it into hundreds (or potentially thousands) of layers. This information is fed to the 3D printer, and, hey presto, it prints the object slice by slice.

The main benefit of this approach is that even complex shapes can be created much more easily, and using less materials than traditional manufacturing methods (which is good for the environment and the bottom line). Transport needs are reduced, since parts and products can be printed on-site. And one-off items can be made quickly and easily, without worrying about economies of scale – which could be a game-changer for rapid prototyping, custom manufacturing, and creating highly personalized products. What’s more, the materials used for 3D printing can be pretty much anything: plastic, obviously, but also metal, powder, concrete, liquid, even chocolate.

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How does 4D printing differ?

4D printing is the same as 3D printing, but with a twist – namely, a built-in ability for the printed object to transform itself. In other words, the object being created can be programmed to change its shape when prompted by certain triggers, such as water or heat. For example, a storage carton could flatten itself, or a structure could repair itself after weather damage. Essentially, 4D printing is the cutting edge of additive manufacturing, which means it’s still very much in the experimental stage.

Amazing examples of 3D and 4D printing in action

As you can probably imagine, 3D and 4D printing have the potential to transform manufacturing. But these technologies have much wider applications beyond manufacturing settings – and many of these applications might surprise you. Here are some unexpected items that can now be successfully printed.

1. Bones and muscles

At the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, researchers have been able to print bones, muscles, and ears – a process known as bioprinting – and implant them successfully into animals. What’s really exciting is the printed tissue survived after being implanted and became functional tissue.

2. Ovaries

Overcoming infertility is often a long, painful, and expensive process. But one pioneering experiment gives hope that we might see an innovative new treatment approach in the future. At the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, a mouse was implanted with synthetic, printed ovaries. The mouse went on to give birth to healthy babies.

3. Pastries

Ukrainian architect-turned-pastry-chef Dinara Kasko has made a name for herself on Instagram by posting pictures of her striking geometric 3D printed pastries. And Kasko isn’t the only one printing food…

4. Pizza

The Foodini 3D food printer, made by Natural Machines, is designed to create personalized printed food. It can print pizza, bean burgers, and a range of healthier options using edible ingredients.

5. Buildings

Russian startup Apis Cor is able to 3D print a modest house in just 24 hours, and save up to 40 percent on construction costs. The mobile printer lays down layers of a concrete mixture to build up the walls, then, once the printer is removed, insulation, windows, and a roof are added. And because Apis Cor’s printing devices are mobile, houses can be printed on-site rather than in a factory.

6. A boat

The University of Maine set a Guinness World Record when it 3D printed the largest boat ever printed – a 25-foot, 5,000-pound boat called 3Dirigo. The supersize printer used to create the boat is able to print objects up to 100 feet long and 22 feet wide.

7. A kayak

Proving that you don't need an industrial kit to create impressive 3D printed objects, Jim Smith of Grass Roots Engineering created a full-size kayak on a home printer over the course of 42 days. Fully watertight and working, the colorful kayak took around $500 worth of materials to make.

8. Artwork for the blind

3D printing is even being used to give blind art lovers the ability to appreciate classic paintings, by turning those paintings into 3D printed sculptures.

9. Yourself (in miniature)

Thanks to startup company Beheld’s 3D printing technology, you can create a mini figurine of yourself. The perfect gift for loved ones? Sure.

10. Shape memory materials

4D printing is certainly less common than 3D printing, but one example shows how it could be used in the future. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have printed silicone material that is flexible and can adapt itself when heat is applied. This could, for example, be used to create truly customizable, form-fitting shoes that adapt to the wearer’s feet.

3D and 4D printing are just one of 25 technology trends that I believe will transform our society. Read more about these key trends – including plenty of real-world examples – in my new book, Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4th Industrial Revolution.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here. 

Examples of positive and negative applications of the 3D printer

Every year 3D printing becomes more and more popular. The 3D printer, as a tool for turning a digital model into a physical object, is gaining popularity, outperforming other production methods in many ways due to its affordability.

But do not forget that a 3D printer is just a tool. A lot depends on how this tool will be used.

Available 3D printing technologies

All 3D technologies can be conditionally divided into 4 types.

Layer by layer welding with molten material.

The principle of operation is similar to the familiar glue gun. The print media is melted to a semi-liquid state in the print head and applied with a nozzle to the print surface where it solidifies. This is how the finished 3D model “grows” layer by layer on the printing table. Not only thermoplastics can be used as consumables, but, for example, chocolate, icing, concrete, etc.

This is the most common type of printer. Inexpensive FDM printers are often used as home assistants. This is facilitated by an inexpensive price and a variety of consumables.

Selective curing of resin (photopolymer printers).

The material used is a photopolymer resin that hardens under the influence of UV radiation. As a source of UV radiation, a thin laser beam, a DLP projector or an LCD screen with a UV matrix, or any other design can be used. For example, some industrial 3D printers apply a photopolymer using thin nozzles and immediately illuminate it with a UV lamp.

Previously, these printers were quite expensive. Today, with advances in technology, photopolymer 3D printing has become affordable and photoresin printers have become popular as home hobby printers.

Selective bonding of powdered material.

On the print head of the printer there are several nozzles through which a binder is supplied, which is selectively applied to the powdered material. Various materials can be used as a material: for example, gypsum or metal powders. But gypsum is most often used.

Since dye can be added to the "glue" during printing, such printers are usually used for the production of color demonstration models or souvenirs.

Laser sintering of powdered materials.

The youngest technology, but with great potential for use in large-scale production. With the help of a laser or a heated print head, selective sintering of the metal powder occurs in an environment filled with an inert gas.

These are already serious industrial printers that are used for the production of functional metal assemblies and parts. Currently, such 3D printers are actively used in the aerospace industry.

Unethical use

3D piracy

Where there is duplication of objects, there are always disputes about copyright and piracy.

The production of any product is a long and painstaking work, and often more than one person. Before you get a finished decorative product, for example, a figurine, you need to think through everything to the smallest detail. Usually, before modeling, the artist draws a lot of sketches, the details of clothing and accessories are thought out. Only after that the 3D modeler gets to work and begins painstakingly recreating the 3D model.

Functional models are often redesigned by engineers after the prototype has been made. There can be a very long way between the initial idea and a stable working mechanism. And it’s very disappointing when such work is simply copied and posted in the public domain.

LEGO

It was one of the first mass manifestations of "3D piracy". At that time, 3D printing was only gaining popularity, and many users, having printed a dozen figurines, were looking for a useful application for a 3D printer. Given the low plastic consumption, the printed LEGO blocks were very inexpensive.

3D printed LEGO bricks

Despite the far from ideal surface, many were satisfied with such a copy. Some have argued that the accuracy of a home FDM printer is not enough for the bricks to fit well with the original LEGO, but for most users everything fit perfectly.

At the moment, LEGO is actively removing models that copy the original sizes of the famous bricks and men from the network. On popular sites, only custom elements of LEGO-men and LECO are left that are not the original size.

Custom heads for LEGO men

Games Workshop

Games Workshop, which produce the most expensive table soldiers in the world, sued Thomas Valenti (USA) back in 2012. Thomas has modeled, printed and made publicly available several miniatures based on the Warhammer universe. The court sided with Games Workshop and the models had to be removed.

3D Printed Chaplain

Chaplain 3D model from Warhammer 40k

Games Workshop went one step further by banning fans from creating art and other work based on the original settings and characters. As a boycott, users of the Warhammer 40,000 section on Reddit are proposing to abandon the company's products as much as possible - print game figures on 3D printers, use paints from other companies, or switch to other universes.

Hollywood

The production of modern films is not a cheap pleasure, and film companies try to recoup their costs not only by showing them in cinemas, but, for example, by producing souvenirs.

DreamWorks has an entire consumer goods division that helps recoup the cost of a movie if it fails at the box office. Film companies recognize that fan-made productions often surpass the official "souvenir" in accuracy and detail.

DC Universe Batman fan model

Many film companies are closely following the development of 3D printed merchandise, but do not yet know how to respond. For example, Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. They themselves began to upload models for 3D printing to the network, before the release of new films.

Weapon Seal

Seal of weapons

24-year-old law student Cody Wilson was the first to make a gun on a 3D printer. Cody designed and 3D printed a combat pistol on his own. After 8 years, the idea of ​​making firearms using 3D printing has not only not died out, but flared up with a bright fire.

It started in Texas in 2012. It was there that the company Defense Distributed was registered, the ideology of which was the development of models of firearms that anyone could make on a home 3D printer.

Guns

Liberator

The first “swallow” was the Liberator - a compact plastic pistol printed on a 3D printer from ABS plastic. The only thing that could not be made on a 3D printer was the striker, which was successfully replaced by an ordinary nail. The first printed pistol was made on a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer.

Liberator - the name is borrowed from a cheap pistol that was developed in 1942 in the USA.

The Liberator fired a fairly weak .380 ACP round and could only last a dozen rounds at most.

Failed Liberator

Zig Zag

In the spring of 2014, a video appeared on the Internet with a man shooting from a plastic revolver with a huge drum. The video greatly stirred up all of Japan.

Zig Zag

Unknown was Yoshitomo Imura (Yoshitomo Imura) - 28-year-old employee of the Shonan Institute of Technology. Despite Imuru's claim that he fired blanks on the tape, he was arrested and sentenced to 2 years in prison.

The Zig Zag design was a reimagining of revolvers popular in the 19th century, which used a rotating .38 caliber barrel block mounted on a pistol grip.

Washbear

In 2015, mechanical engineering student James Patrick posted a video online showing a 3D printed PM522 Washbear in operation.

PM522 Washbear

The PM522 visually resembled a children's pistol from a science fiction movie, but at the same time the pistol had a strong and rigid frame. Washbear is also safer than its predecessors. At rest, the firing mechanism was not in line with the primer, so the PM522 was protected from accidental firing, for example, when dropped. The only metal part was the nail that replaced the striker.

Rifle

Grizzly

Canadian with the nickname CanadianGunNut, ThreeD Ukulele or simply Matthew, inspired by the Liberator project, designed and posted his project - Grizzly. Grizzly is an ABS+ plastic rifle. It took the Canadian 3 days to design the rifle and another 27 hours to manufacture it using a Stratasys Dimension 1200es industrial 3D printer.

Grizzly 9 Rifle0063