07/11/2013
The Amazing Reality of 3D printing
The 3D printing technology is not new, but decades old. However, only lately this technology has been declassified by the mainstream media. 3D printing essentially involves printing a solid state model of any object whose digital blueprint is available. From guitars, miniature cars to camera lens and medical replicas, a host of objects can be created with 3D printing. This is undoubtedly the latest technology doing rounds and gaining acceptance among the masses. Some quite innovative 3D printing applications have been developed too. You will perhaps find it difficult to believe that a Japanese company is even offering a 3D printed model of your fetus!
Sounds interesting? Here’s more to the Japanese technology. The Japanese company Fasotec first started providing the 3D model of the fetus in collaboration with the Hiroo Ladies Clinic from July 30, 2012. The process of development of the 3D model entails using a special BioTexture technique for 3D processing of the fetal image data. Then a special 3D printer is used that creates the 3D model by releasing two resins simultaneously. A transparent resin is used for the mother’s body and a white resin is used for the fetal image. Fasotec recommends getting a fetal 3D print at the last months of pregnancy when the fetus has developed clear facial features. The company also provides extremely realistic life like medical models of the bones and the internal organs using their technology.
3D printing or 3D doodling is based on an additive technology where objects build up around layers. The first commercial 3D printer was invented by Charles Hull, who developed this technique in 1984. This technique was known as stereolithography. The printer developed was called a SLA or stereolithography apparatus. The SLA still remains one of the most accurate 3D printers available, although the turnaround time for this layer buildup printing technology is greater than the modern inventions. With the SLA, layers upon layers are created with accuracy and it may take quite some time (a few hours) to complete the process.
The SLA was followed by the development of the technology called the FDM or the Fused Deposition Modeling. This is also called the material extrusion technology where a hot thermoplastic semi liquid material is used to create 3D prints from digital blueprints. What is evenmore interesting is the fact that the FDM technology can use the biodegradable bioplastic called Polylactic Acid or PLA. The PLA is produced from organic alternatives to petroleum which is the usual source of plastics. In fact, scientists are predicting that within a few decades the bioplastic can be grown in the backyard from biomass with the development in synthetic biology.
Other major technologies used in 3D printing include a process called Polyjet matrix, selective laser sintering, and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) that can create 3D metallic objects out of digital blueprint. The metallic objects are 99.99 percent dense, so this particular technology is being widely used to develop 3D objects by printing.
The discussion about 3D printing is incomplete with the latest development in the field, which is the 3D doodler. With the help of this doodler, you can actually ‘paint’ 3D objects in thin air, giving shape to your visualization. This 3D doodler has been developed by Boston based WobbleWorks, who very recently launched a kickstarter campaign to sell these amazing little devices. This pen uses a special heated plastic which instantly cools in thin air to retain the structure that you have drawn with your 3D pen
