3D Printing Technology In Industry And Its Potential: An Evaluative Study

Introduction to 3D Printing Technology

3D printing is an emerging technology through which materials can be joined under the control of the computer. The materials those can be used are liquid molecules or powder grains in layer by layer. At present day 3D printing can be considered for the industrial use. The creation of the shapes in 3D printing can be considered as very complex object. The whole structure can be created using the materials, layer by layer (Lee et al.2016). For this reason, this method is known is additive manufacturing. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate different aspects of the 3D printing and its usage in the industry. The conclusion is made on the basis of the factors identified from the discussion regarding 3d printing.

3D printing can be through using the 3D printer connected with the computer and the system. At first, the 3D printer turns the whole object into many little parts. The process is done slice by slice in bottom up approach. The layer in the 3D object can be complex. The creation of 3d model is developed by the software in the computer (Scholze et al. 2018). The 3D model can be generated from 3D modeling software or can be developed through 3D scanner. When the file is uploaded in 3D printer, the object is created in 3D dimension layer by layer.

3D plays an important role in the field of mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. 3D printing has made the processes included in these industries easier through providing the overview of the prototype before the development of the project (Lee, An and Chua 2017). This printing technology has helped in mass customization of the products along with production of on demand components.  Apart from that 3D model developed through 3D printing provides chances for verification and required correction in the physical component.

In case of on demand production of the component, the product is made instantly on the requirements of the clients. This can be done in two ways. The component can be directly used to the application or the pattern of the model can be created using metal casting or molding (Zhao et al. 2015). Moreover, the manufacturing industry there is a constant need for the research and development of the components and products. In the tradition approach, the product is developed from the scratch. This takes a lot of skill and time for the delivery of the right outcome (Zhu et al. 2016). In most of the cases, it has been seen that after the development of the product there is a need of correction or modification in the product. At that stage, the making the modification in the products may become difficult. However, making the prototype through the 3D printing can be beneficial and it provides a chance to make the necessary modifications. Based on the prototype, final product can be developed. 

Applications in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Strength:

• Speed:  The main advantage of 3D printing is the speed in which the parts can be produced and assembled to form a complete figure. Complex designs can be developed in a faster way.
• Single step manufacture:  The manufacture of the product is done in a single step for the 3d printing technology.   Once the design is finalized, the fabrication of the model starts and the product is handled by the single system at a time utile the final assemble and compilation of the product.
• Mitigation of risks:  The main risk in the traditional way of manufacturing process is that no modification can be made after the delivery of the final product. However, 3D printing provides the opportunity for prototyping the model (Chia and Wu 2015). In the prototype of the model, required modifications can be done on the basis of the requirements. Based on the prototype, the final design can be made. This will help to mitigate the risks regarding the modification of the final product at the final stage.
• Freedom in designing:  In the traditional approach, making and developing the complex design is a complicated project. However, using 3D printing technology, many complex structure and design can be manufactured easily. This technology provides the freedom in designing the complex structure.

Weakness:

• Consumption of high energy: The consumption of the energy in3d printing is 50 to 100 times greater than traditional printing system. From the research it has been found out that deposition of the laser metal is 100 times much as electrical energy.
• Expensive technology:  The printing materials and the equipments for the 3d printing have made the whole process expensive. The capital investment is high so the service of 3D printing is much higher than the tradition printing technology.
• Limitation of materials: The use of 3D printing technology in the manufacturing process is emerging technology (Loo, Chua and Pumera 2017).  However, availability of the materials for the 3D printing is still limited. This printing technology requires high voltage power supply, special equipment and parts (Stansbury and Idacavage 2016). This makes the whole process difficult to manage and use. Some low resolution printers cannot connect to the Wi-Fi connections.
• Emission of harmful particles:  The use of 3D printers is done at the enclosed places. The emission from the 3D printers are harmful carcinogenic particles those are responsible for the contamination of the environment.

The use of 3D printing technology is extensively done in the mechanical and aerospace engineering. The use of 3d printing is done in making the prototype of the commercial products. In the traditional approach, the product is made based on certain specifications (Xing, Zheng and Duan 2015). After the compilation of the manufacturing the products, further modification becomes a complex process. While, during the development of the products, the need of modifications may not be felt in a proper way. In this case, use of prototype can be helpful for the detection of the modifications for the final products. The prototype can be developed using the 3D printing model. After the modification on the prototype, the final product can be developed based on the prototype.

The ethical issues regarding 3D printing are as follows:

Piracy:

One of the main ethical issues regarding the 3D printing is the piracy. The files regarding the 3D structure generation can be copied easily (Mendis, Lemley and Rimmer 2019). The copied files can generate proper 3D image. Thus the piracy becomes easy in case of 3D printing. This can violate the uniqueness of the creativity.

3D orienting can be beneficial for the medical field; however, its usage raises some of the ethical issues. 3D printing allows the surgeons to take the printout of the artificial bone from the scan of the patient (Isaacs et al. 2016).  However, the use of 3D printing for the creation of the organ is ethically questionable.

Lack of regulatory concerns:

 There is a lack of regulatory concern regarding the use of 3D printing technology. Without the presence of proper rules, there is a chance that this kind of technology can be misused in different fields.

Conclusion

The discussion is regarding the different aspects of 3D printing technology. In this context, the introduction of the new technology like 3D printing technology has been defined at the beginning of the assessment. From the definition the strengths and the weakness of this technology has discussed. The weakness of the technology can be defined as the possible challenges for using this technology. However, it can be said that with the proper steps, these challenges can be mitigated. It can be said from the discussion that the use of the 3D printing technology has bought the revolution in the manufacturing industry as well as medical field (Wang et al.2017). However, there are some of the ethical issues present in the use of the 3D printing technology in different sectors of the industry. Apart from that environmental issues that raised from the use of the 3D printing is needed to be taken into concern. It can be said that further research in this technology can bring the progress in its application along with the mitigation of the challenges and the risks associated with this technology. It can be concluded from the above discussion that the use of the 3D printing technology is helpful for the innovation of the new designs and better manufacturing of the products. 

References

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