3d Printing and its Impact on Society Through Changes in Design and Manufacturing
We live in an information age. Huge advancements in science and technology have fundamentally redefined every part of our lives, changing the way we communicate, interact, build and create. It all began with the industrial revolution.
The first industrial revolution marked the transition from agrarian handcraft techniques, to the age machines and mass production. Unprecedented growth in science and economics led to the emergence of steam power, marking our first step towards mechanization. 1
The second revolution pushed us to even greater heights with the arrival of the assembly line, and the first instances of factory electrification.
And today we are here
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3 dimensional printing (3DP), is the natural successor to your everyday inkjet printer. The key difference is that instead of working in 2 dimensions and printing only 1 layer, a 3d printer can print multiple layers in 3 dimensions.
3DP falls under the umbrella term Additive manufacturing (AM) and is used interchangeably with rapid prototyping (RP). 3d printing is the process of turning a CAD file (computer aided design) into a physical 3 dimensional object using additive processes.
3d printing itself is made up of many different methods of fabrication, but they all follow the same basic principles, a computer program slices up a 3d model into hundreds of layers, which are sent to the printer. The printer then, using one of the many methods, creates a 3d object by solidifying layer upon layer of material on top of the previous until you are left with a complete 3 dimensional object.
Although 3d printing has only in the last couple of years shifted into public eye, it has been in development for almost 30
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It wasn't until 2004 when Adrian Bowyer, a university professor from Bath, conceived the RepRap project. RepRap is short for replicating rapid-prototyper and is a movement focused on creating low cost self-replicating 3d printers.
In 2008 the RepRap project created their first printer, the Darwin, which was able to print 50% of its own parts. The printer designs are open source and all the non-printed parts are off the shelf components, making the printer widely accessible. The printer was a big step forward as it very quickly and very cheaply allowed 3d printing to be brought to the personal consumer market. At that time the nearest priced 3d printer cost excess of $20,000, while all the RepRap components combined cost around $400. Although these printers were clunky, unreliable and required a huge amount of trial and error to run, they kick started 3d printing movement and allowed rapid development of entry-level printers through the open source development