3D printer technology pdf

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of 3D Printing?

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is becoming popular with manufacturers. The demand is growing due to some of the revolutionary benefits that it can provide. Like almost all technologies it has its own drawbacks that need considering.

This page aims to help with the selection process. We will cover each of the advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing.

This production process offers a range of advantages compared to traditional manufacturing methods. These advantages include those related to design, time and cost, amongst others.

1. Flexible Design

3D printing allows for the design and print of more complex designs than traditional manufacturing processes. More traditional processes have design restrictions which no longer apply with the use of 3D printing.

2. Rapid Prototyping

3D printing can manufacture parts within hours, which speeds up the prototyping process. This allows for each stage to complete faster. When compared to machining prototypes, 3D printing is inexpensive and quicker at creating parts as the part can be finished in hours, allowing for each design modification to be completed at a much more efficient rate.

3. Print on Demand

Print on demand is another advantage as it doesn’t need a lot of space to stock inventory, unlike traditional manufacturing processes. This saves space and costs as there is no need to print in bulk unless required.

The 3D design files are all stored in a virtual library as they are printed using a 3D model as either a CAD or STL file, this means they can be located and printed when needed. Edits to designs can be made at very low costs by editing individual files without wastage of out of date inventory and investing in tools.

4. Strong and Lightweight Parts

The main 3D printing material used is plastic, although some metals can also be used for 3D printing. However, plastics offer advantages as they are lighter than their metal equivalents. This is particularly important in industries such as automotive and aerospace where light-weighting is an issue and can deliver greater fuel efficiency.

Also, parts can be created from tailored materials to provide specific properties such as heat resistance, higher strength or water repellency.

5. Fast Design and Production

Depending on a part’s design and complexity, 3D printing can print objects within hours, which is much faster than moulded or machined parts. It is not only the manufacture of the part that can offer time savings through 3D printing but also the design process can be very quick by creating STL or CAD files ready to be printed.

6. Minimising Waste

The production of parts only requires the materials needed for the part itself, with little or no wastage as compared to alternative methods which are cut from large chunks of non-recyclable materials. Not only does the process save on resources but it also reduces the cost of the materials being used.

7. Cost Effective

As a single step manufacturing process, 3D printing saves time and therefore costs associated with using different machines for manufacture. 3D printers can also be set up and left to get on with the job, meaning that there is no need for operators to be present the entire time. As mentioned above, this manufacturing process can also reduce costs on materials as it only uses the amount of material required for the part itself, with little or no wastage. While 3D printing equipment can be expensive to buy, you can even avoid this cost by outsourcing your project to a 3D printing service company.

8. Ease of Access

3D printers are becoming more and more accessible with more local service providers offering outsourcing services for manufacturing work. This saves time and doesn’t require expensive transport costs compared to more traditional manufacturing processes produced abroad in countries such as China.

9. Environmentally Friendly

As this technology reduces the amount of material wastage used this process is inherently environmentally friendly. However, the environmental benefits are extended when you consider factors such as improved fuel efficiency from using lightweight 3D printed parts.

10. Advanced Healthcare

3D printing is being used in the medical sector to help save lives by printing organs for the human body such as livers, kidneys and hearts. Further advances and uses are being developed in the healthcare sector providing some of the biggest advances from using the technology.

Like with almost any other process there are also drawbacks of 3D printing technology which should be considered before opting to use this process.

1. Limited Materials

While 3D Printing can create items in a selection of plastics and metals the available selection of raw materials is not exhaustive. This is due to the fact that not all metals or plastics can be temperature controlled enough to allow 3D printing. In addition, many of these printable materials cannot be recycled and very few are food safe.

2. Restricted Build Size

3D printers currently have small print chambers which restrict the size of parts that can be printed. Anything bigger will need to be printed in separate parts and joined together after production. This can increase costs and time for larger parts due to the printer needing to print more parts before manual labour is used to join the parts together.

3. Post Processing

Although large parts require post-processing, as mentioned above, most 3D printed parts need some form of cleaning up to remove support material from the build and to smooth the surface to achieve the required finish. Post processing methods used include waterjetting, sanding, a chemical soak and rinse, air or heat drying, assembly and others. The amount of post processing required depends on factors including the size of the part being produced, the intended application and the type of 3D printing technology used for production. So, while 3D printing allows for the fast production of parts, the speed of manufacture can be slowed by post processing.

4. Large Volumes

3D printing is a static cost unlike more conventional techniques like injection moulding, where large volumes may be more cost effective to produce. While the initial investment for 3D printing may be lower than other manufacturing methods, once scaled up to produce large volumes for mass production, the cost per unit does not reduce as it would with injection moulding.

5. Part Structure

With 3D printing (also known as Additive Manufacturing) parts are produced layer-by-layer. Although these layers adhere together it also means that they can delaminate under certain stresses or orientations. This problem is more significant when producing items using fused deposition modelling (FDM), while polyjet and multijet parts also tend to be more brittle. In certain cases it may be better to use injection moulding as it creates homogenous parts that will not separate and break.

6. Reduction in Manufacturing Jobs

Another of the disadvantages of 3D technology is the potential reduction in human labour, since most of the production is automated and done by printers. However, many third world countries rely on low skill jobs to keep their economies running, and this technology could put these manufacturing jobs at risk by cutting out the need for production abroad.

7. Design Inaccuracies

Another potential problem with 3D printing is directly related to the type of machine or process used, with some printers having lower tolerances, meaning that final parts may differ from the original design. This can be fixed in post processing, but it must be considered that this will further increase the time and cost of production.

8. Copyright Issues

As 3D printing is becoming more popular and accessible there is a greater possibility for people to create fake and counterfeit products and it will almost be impossible to tell the difference. This has evident issues around copyright as well as for quality control.

Get Further Advice On 3D Printing

Need help with determining whether 3D printing is the right process for you?

Contact our team of world-leading experts with over 20 years of experience in the additive manufacturing field.

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[PDF] A Review of 3D Food Printing Technology

DOI:10.1051/MATECCONF/201821301012
Corpus ID: 54952884

@inproceedings{Pitayachaval2018ARO, title={A Review of 3D Food Printing Technology}, author={Paphakorn Pitayachaval and Nattawut Sanklong and Anantapoom Thongrak}, year={2018} }

P. Pitayachaval, Nattawut Sanklong, Anantapoom Thongrak
Published 2018
Materials Science

The additive manufacturing technology has been applied to directly construct physical model from 3D model without mold and die. Several industries utilize this technology to manufacture a complicated part such as automobile, aerospace including food industry. The advantage 3D food printing are ability to produce complex food model and ability to design unique pattern. A 3D food printing technique is composed of an extrusion-based printing, binder jetting and inkjet printing. The food materials…

3D Printing Technology : Food Tech Analysis

Yuri Kim, Hyun-Jung Yun, Bum-Keun Kim, Hee‐Don Choi, Yun-Sang Choi
Materials Science
Resources Science Research
2022

This study was conducted to contribute to the vitalization of the food industry through future food tech analysis of 3D printing technology. Interest in the future food industry of sustainability is…

Role of 3D Printing in Food Industry- A Review

B. Likhit, Dr.B.H.Sripathi Rao
Art
2020

3D printing is the current trend in all sectors. It is very important to know about how these 3D printers work, especially for those who are thinking of start-ups. 3D printing revolution has already…

Effect of Temperature Setting on 3d Printer Machine for Chocolate Printing

Muhammad Musthofa, Reza Mahardika, Rafiq Aly Nurdin, Soeadgihardo Siswantoro, S. Wibowo
Advances in Science and Technology
2022

The food industry has taken advantage of additive manufacturing technology to create food from complex ingredients customized as needed. Research on 3d printing of food, especially chocolate, has…

Designing 3D printable food based on fruit and vegetable products—opportunities and challenges

Roji B. Waghmare, D. Suryawanshi, Sneha V Karadbhajne
Journal of Food Science and Technology
2022

3D printing is an innovative technology for food industry, which provides tremendous opportunities for the designing of customized and personalized nutrition for fruit and vegetable based food…

University of Birmingham Jetting-based 3D printing of edible materials

S. Vadodaria
Materials Science
2020

6 3D printing or additive manufacturing is a fabrication technique gaining considerable interest across many disciplines 7 owing to its dimensional precision and ability to produce novel geometrical…

Jetting-based 3D printing of edible materials

S. Vadodaria, T. Mills
Materials Science
2020

Advances and prospective applications of 3D food printing for health improvement and personalized nutrition.

A. Escalante-Aburto, G. Trujillo-de Santiago, M. M. Álvarez, C. Chuck‐Hernández
Medicine
Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety
2021

The most recent published information related to 3DFP for novel uses, including personalized nutrition and health-oriented applications, and the use of 3D-printed food as a drug vehicle, and four-dimensional food printing (4DFP) are reviewed.

Basic Research for Additive Manufacturing of Rubber

W. Drossel, J. Ihlemann, R. Landgraf, Erik Oelsch, Marek Schmidt
Materials Science
Polymers
2020

The results show that the realization of 3D rubber printing is possible, however, there is still a need for research to stabilize the layers during the printing process, and further studies are necessary to determine the optimum parameters for traverse speed and material discharge, especially on contours.

3D Printed Foods: A Comprehensive Review on Technologies, Nutritional Value, Safety, Consumer Attitude, Regulatory Framework, and Economic and Sustainability Issues

ABSTRACT Three-dimensional printing can be successfully applied in the food sector to fabricate 3D foods with complex geometries, customized texture, and tailored nutritional contents. The concrete…

Geometry extraction from GCODE files destined for 3D printers

W. Sobieski, Wojsciech Kiński
Materials Science
2020

The paper presents a method of conversion of GCODE files designed for additive manufacturing in 3D printers to a format which may be conveniently visualized and an attempt of applying Poisson Surface Reconstruction in order to obtain the original geometry.

SHOWING 1-10 OF 16 REFERENCES

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3d printing technologies applied for food design: Status and prospects

F. C. Godoi, S. Prakash, B. Bhandari
Materials Science
2016

A Review on 3D Printing for Customized Food Fabrication

Jie Sun, Zhuo Peng, Weibiao Zhou, J. Fuh, G. Hong, Annette Chiu
Engineering
2015

3D printing complex chocolate objects: Platform design, optimization and evaluation

Matthew Lanaro, David Forrestal, M. Woodruff
Materials Science
2017

Design and characterisation of food grade powders and inks for microstructure control using 3D printing

S. Holland, T. Foster, W. Macnaughtan, C. Tuck
Materials Science
2018

Fundamentals and applications of 3D printing for novel materials

Jian-Yuan Lee, J. An, C. Chua
Materials Science
2017

Investigation on lemon juice gel as food material for 3D printing and optimization of printing parameters

Fanli Yang, M. Zhang, B. Bhandari, Yaping Liu
Materials Science
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Investigation on fish surimi gel as promising food material for 3D printing

Lin Wang, M. Zhang, B. Bhandari, Chao-hui Yang
Materials Science
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Feasibility Study of an Extrusion-based Direct Metal Additive Manufacturing Technique☆

M. Annoni, H. Giberti, M. Strano
Materials Science
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Food Layered Manufacture: A new process for constructing solid foods

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Effect of printing speed on quality of printed parts in Binder Jetting Process

H. Miyanaji, N. Momenzadeh, Li Yang
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DLP 3D printing technology - application features and benefits

Documentation

pdf

SISMA-DLP 3D.pdf

(PDF, 869.87 KB)

DLP 3D (DIGITAL LIGHT PROCESSING) technology is one of the additive manufacturing methods that uses liquid photopolymer resins as a working material, which harden as a result of exposure to light emitted by digital LED projectors (DLP).

What is DLP 3D printing?

This technology first appeared in the 80s of the last century. It was developed by Texas Instruments, which at that time was the world leader in the field of microelectronics. Larry Hornbeck pioneered digital light processing. He used digital mirrors placed in a semiconductor chip matrix. Each such mirror was a pixel in the picture and the minimum element to display. Gradually, the technique was improved, developed, opening up new horizons for application. And modern printers allow you to print three-dimensional products ranging in size from 2 mm to 650x650x450 mm with a minimum wall thickness of 0.8 mm.

At its core, the technology is very similar to laser stereolithography (SLA), but in application it turns out to be cheaper. There are no expensive laser emitters here, which made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of production. Also, this technology, unlike SLA, has a higher print speed while maintaining the maximum fidelity of the original image.

Technology description

The principal device and operation of printers based on the DLP 3D printing technique is quite simple. The printer operates under the control of a specialized software package. The first stage of printing is the creation of a three-dimensional model of the future product. The finished layout is loaded into a program that automatically splits the object intended for printing into layers of a given thickness, up to several microns.

DLP 3D technology can be:

Reverse. Liquid photopolymer compound is poured into the transparent bottom tray of the printer. The working table moves into this container, retreating from its bottom to the thickness of the very first layer of the future object. Under the bath there is a device that projects an image of the first layer onto the bottom through a focusing lens. Under the influence of an ultraviolet light source, the working part of the material instantly hardens. After that, the table automatically rises to the next layer.
Straight. The essence of direct printing is very similar to the reverse, but the difference is that the DLP projector is located not under the bath with a photopolymer composition, but above it. And the first layer begins to be built not from the bottom of the bath, but from the surface of the material. It turns out that during operation, the platform will sink layer by layer.

All these steps (table movement, digital LED projection, UV radiation) are repeated one after another. The new layer is firmly connected to the previous one. At the same time, there are no seams and visible transitions. Gradually, layer by layer, a printed object is obtained.

Mandatory condition - the depth of the bath and the layer of poured photopolymer must correspond to the dimensions of the future product.

To understand the difference between the technological processes of laser stereolithography and digital LED printing, let's dwell on the features of SLA. Here, the working unit is not a projector, but a laser beam. It does not project a layer, but, having a minimum thickness, exactly repeats the shape of the model, passes through every point of the future object, polymerizing the liquid material. The result is a product identical to the computer model.

Advantages and disadvantages of DLP 3D printing

DLP technology in 3D printing is gradually gaining momentum in popularity due to the presence of a number of impressive advantages:

High print speed. Here, work is being done not with every point of the object, but with its layer, which already contains hundreds or even thousands of such points. This makes printing very fast.
Decent accuracy. The minimum thickness of the working layer is 15 microns, which means that even the smallest elements from the computer model will be identically transferred to the printed object.
Large selection of print materials. DLP printers work with the same materials as SLA. The modern market offers large-scale lines of photopolymer resins that mimic any material, from superhard plastics to rubber. All of them are presented in a large variety of colors.
Low cost printer. Digital LED projection units are much cheaper than laser printers.
Many consumers believe that the accuracy of DLP printing is much lower than SLA and attribute this to the shortcomings of the technology. But not everything is so clear-cut here. It should be understood that the accuracy of LED digital printing depends on the quality of the photopolymer used and the printer itself, and the ambient temperature. So, the best material will be a composition that includes pigments and light blockers. They will prevent the dispersion of the flow and, accordingly, the polymerization of the material adjacent to the model.

It is also important to monitor the temperature of the polymer in the pan. The printer itself will generate a lot of heat during operation, which can lead to unwanted polymerization of the composition. To prevent this from happening, you should lower the temperature in the room. But the lack of heat is not the best solution, because the emitted portion of ultraviolet radiation may not be enough to completely harden the material. This problem in many printers is solved by the presence of the option of automatic heating of the photopolymer. Print quality is also affected by the accuracy of the printer itself. It is directly related to the resolution of the LED projector.

Good material + high-quality printer + adherence to technology - and the print accuracy will not be inferior to laser stereolithography. And the only conditional drawback of this technology will be reduced to zero.

DLP 3D application

Despite the fact that the DLP 3D printer appeared relatively recently, it has found wide application in many areas of science, production, and technology. This technology is used in the manufacture of master copies and models for casting and functional testing prototypes. With its help they print:

- veneers, teeth for prosthetics, crowns and other dental products;
- jewelry, including designer products;
- elements of complex spatial configurations of small volumes;
- toys, decorative items, souvenirs;
- medical devices;
- elements for sensory, measuring devices, "smart" lighting systems;
- matrices for the production of silicone molds and other products that require high detail.

This 3D printing technology is also widely used in various industries - due to its high quality, ease of use, waste-free production.