The West Japan Railway Company recently unveiled a 3D-printed train station, which it claimed was a world first.
What is 3D printing?
- 3D printing is a process that uses computer-created design to make three-dimensional objects layer by layer.
- It is an additive process, in which layers of a material like plastic, composites or bio-materials are built up to construct objects that range in shape, size, rigidity, and colour.
- Materials used: including thermoplastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), metals (including powders), resins and ceramics.
- The first 3D printing (additive manufacturing) was used in 1983 by an American inventor, Charles (Chuck) W. Hull.
How is 3D printing done?
- Essentials: To carry out 3D printing, one needs a personal computer connected to a 3D printer.
- Similarity with Traditional Printers : The (3D) printer acts generally the same as a traditional inkjet printer in the direct 3D printing process.
- In it a nozzle moves back and forth while dispensing a wax or plastic-like polymer layer-by-layer, waiting for that layer to dry, then adding the next level.
- Process:
- Design a 3D model of the required object on computer-aid design (CAD) software and press ‘print’. The 3D printer does the rest of the job.
- Layering Method : 3D printers construct the desired object by using a layering method, which is the complete opposite of the subtractive manufacturing processes.
- 3D printers, on the other hand, build from the bottom up by piling on layer after layer until the object looks exactly like it was envisioned.
- It adds hundreds or thousands of 2D prints on top of one another to make a three-dimensional object.
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