By Pratyush Raj Mishra

 3D printing or additive manufacturing(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. A 3D printer is a
type of industrial robot.
 AM technologies found applications starting
in the 1980s in product development, data
visualization, rapid prototyping, and
specialized manufacturing.
 Modelling
 Printing
 Finishing
 3D printable models may be created with
a computer aided design package or via 3D
scanner. The manual modelling process of
preparing geometric data for 3D computer
graphics is similar to plastic arts such as
sculpting. 3D scanning is a process of analysing
and collecting digital data of the shape and
appearance of a real object. Based on this data,
three-dimensional models of the scanned object
can then be produced.
 Several 3D printing marketplaces have emerged
over the last years. Among the most popular
are Shapeways, Thingiverse, MyMiniFactory and T
hreeding
 Before printing a 3D model from an STL file, it
must first be processed by a piece of software
called a "slicer" which converts the model into a
series of thin layers and produces a G-code
file containing instructions tailored to a specific
printer.
 The 3D printer follows the G-code instructions to
lay down successive layers of liquid, powder,
paper or sheet material to build the model from
a series of cross sections. These layers, which
correspond to the virtual cross sections from the
CAD model, are joined or automatically fused to
create the final shape. The primary advantage of
this technique is its ability to create almost any
shape or geometric feature.
 Construction of a model with contemporary
methods can take anywhere from several hours
to several days, depending on the method used
and the size and complexity of the model.
Additive systems can typically reduce this time
to a few hours, although it varies widely
depending on the type of machine used and the
size and number of models being produced
simultaneously.
 Traditional techniques like injection
moulding can be less expensive for
manufacturing polymer products in high
quantities, but additive manufacturing can be
faster, more flexible and less expensive when
producing relatively small quantities of parts. 3D
printers give designers and concept development
teams the ability to produce parts and concept
models using a desktop size printer.
 Though the printer-produced resolution is
sufficient for many applications, printing a
slightly oversized version of the desired
object in standard resolution and then
removing material with a higher-resolution
subtractive process can achieve greater
precision. As with the LUMEX Avance-25 and
other machines slated for IMTS 2014 .
 Fused deposition modelling (FDM) was
developed by S. Scott Crump in the late
1980s and was commercialised in 1990
by Stratasys. With the expiration of the
patent on this technology there is now a
large open-source development community,
as well as commercial and DIY variants,
which utilise this type of 3D printer. This has
led to a two orders of magnitude price drop
since this technology's creation.
 In fused deposition modelling the model or part
is produced by extruding small beads of material
which harden immediately to form layers.
 A thermoplastic filament or metal wire that is
wound on a coil is unreeled to supply material to
an extrusion nozzle head.
 The nozzle head heats the material and turns
the flow on and off.
 Typically stepper motors or servo motors are
employed to move the extrusion head and adjust
the flow and the head can be moved in both
horizontal and vertical directions.
 Control of this mechanism is typically done by
a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software
package running on a microcontroller.
 Variouspolymers are used,
including acrylonitrile butadiene
styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polylactic
acid (PLA), high density polyethylene (HDPE),
PC/ABS, and polyphenylsulfone (PPSU). In
general the polymer is in the form of a
filament.
 Another 3D printing approach is the selective
fusing of materials in a granular bed.
 The technique fuses parts of the layer, and then
moves the working area downwards, adding
another layer of granules and repeating the
process until the piece has built up.
 This process uses the unfused media to support
overhangs and thin walls in the part being
produced, which reduces the need for temporary
auxiliary supports for the piece.
 A laser is typically used to sinter the media into
a solid. Examples include selective laser
sintering (SLS), with both metals and polymers
(e.g. PA, PA-GF, Rigid GF, PEEK, PS, Alumide,
Carbonmide, elastomers), and direct metal laser
sintering (DMLS).
 Another method consists of an inkjet 3D
printing system. The printer creates the
model one layer at a time by spreading a
layer of powder (plaster, or resins) and
printing a binder in the cross-section of the
part using an inkjet-like process.
 This is repeated until every layer has been
printed.
 This technology allows the printing of full
color prototypes, overhangs, and elastomer
parts. The strength of bonded powder prints
can be enhanced with wax or thermoset
polymer impregnation.
 Thermoplastics
 Rubber
 Porcelain
 Metal Clay
 Titanium Alloy
 Stainless Steel
 Metal Powder
 Ceramic Powder
 Metal Foil
 Plastic Film
These are generally larger
machines that use
proprietary powdered
metals, casting media (e.g.
sand), plastics, paper or
cartridges, and are used for
rapid prototyping by
universities and commercial
companies.
Companies have created
services where consumers
can customize objects using
simplified web based
customization software, and
order the resulting items as
3D printed unique objects.
This now allows consumers
to create custom cases for
their mobile phones.
An American company, Local
Motors is working with Oak
Ridge National
Laboratory and Cincinnati
Incorporated to develop
large scale additive
manufacturing processes
suitable for printing an
entire car body.
3D printing began to be used
in production versions of
spaceflight hardware in early
2014. In
January, SpaceX first flew a
"Falcon 9 rocket with a 3D-
printed Main Oxidizer
Valve (MOV) body in one of
the nine Merlin 1D engines.
3D printing has been used to
print patient specific implant
and device for medical use.
Successful operations include a
titanium pelvis implanted into a
British patient, titanium lower
jaw transplanted to a Dutch
patient, and a
plastic tracheal splint for an
American infant.
In 2012, the US-based
group Defense
Distributed disclosed plans to
"[design] a working
plastic gun that could be
downloaded and reproduced by
anybody with a 3D printer.
Defense Distributed has also
designed a 3D printable AR-15
type rifle lower
receiver (capable of lasting
more than 650 rounds) and a 30
round M16 magazine.
An additional use being
developed is building
printing, or using 3D printing
to build buildings. This could
allow faster construction for
lower costs, and has been
investigated for construction
of off-Earth habitats.