Print a copy of the high resolution cookie at home? That's right, you can do it with a 3D printer! 3D printing gives ordinary people powerful and innovative design and production tools, and people can obtain design and manufacturing capabilities unique to professional designers and manufacturing companies. This is not an inkjet printer. The desktop printer is two-dimensionally printed, applying colored ink on flat paper, while the 3D printer can make three-dimensional objects on the hand.
Principle: 3D printing process
Under the guidance of the design document instructions, the 3D printer first ejects solid powder or molten liquid material to cure it into a special flat layer. After the first layer is cured, the 3D printer print head returns, forming another thin layer outside the first layer. After the second layer is cured, the printhead returns again and another thin layer is formed on the outside of the second layer. In this way, the thin layer eventually accumulates into a three-dimensional object.
A 3D printer can be as small as a tote bag or as large as a minivan. The cost of 3D printers can vary from a few hundred dollars to 500,000 dollars. Their common feature is that the raw materials are stacked in layers to form three-dimensional objects according to computer instructions.
Technology: I have been working for decades
3D printing is not a new technology, and 3D printers have been working silently for decades in the manufacturing machine shop. In the past few years, 3D printing technology has developed rapidly due to computing power, new design software, new materials, innovation promotion and Internet advancement. The 3D printer manufactures products by stacking raw materials in layers according to computer instructions. For most of human history, we manufacture new physical objects by cutting raw materials or by molding.
The prerequisite for a 3D printer to function properly is to enter a well-designed electronic blueprint or design file that tells the 3D printer where to place the raw materials. In fact, a 3D printer without a computer and design files is useless, just like an iPod without music.
The Economist predicts that 3D printing technology will bring "the third industrial revolution" and reveal "the factory of the future." It is said that soon, we can print our clothes, cars, and even ears! Every week and every day, new ideas emerge. Is this all just hype?
Application: Achieve custom production
3D printing parts and products are spreading into everyday life. Your car dashboard is designed with 3D printed prototypes to ensure that the parts fit together. If you wear a hearing aid, 3D printing can use optical scanning data to capture the exact shape of your inner ear for custom production.
The dental clinic can print custom crowns in less than an hour with X-rays. The installation of fake knees printed with titanium and ceramics in the body has already become popular in the world. If you are lucky enough to take Boeing's new aircraft Boeing 787 Dreamliner, you have entrusted life to at least 32 3D printed parts. Today, general household 3D printers can make shoebox-sized plastic items. 3D printers in the industrial sector can produce items ranging from cars to needles that are barely visible to the naked eye. Some researchers have begun experimenting with 3D printers to print small-sized concrete structures. At the microscopic point of view, other researchers have already printed objects that are almost invisible to the naked eye.
Investors pointed out the commercial concerns behind the concept of 3D printing. According to industry insiders, 3D printing will not impact the manufacturing industry in the future. 3D printing may initially address individualized needs, but companies that currently address DIY demand in China have no investment value.
Ceramics: Wide range of uses in the pharmaceutical industry
Printed ceramics have the same smooth surface and internal material properties as hand-made kiln ceramics. A promising application is to print ceramic bone implants in 3D based on the patient's CT scan. Ceramic bone implants can be customized, and because they have fewer holes, they are 3 to 5 times stronger than conventional implants. The enhanced ceramic bone implant reduces the risk of micro-fragment breakage during surgery and significantly reduces the probability of postoperative inflammation.
Glass: the most difficult material to print
Glass is one of the most commonly used materials in human civilization and it is the least attractive material for 3D printing. The glass is hydrophobic, meaning that it repels water and therefore does not adhere well. Exposure of glass powder to heat can produce unpredictable results. At present, experts have successfully used recycled glass to print objects in the laboratory. The commercial use of glass printing is mainly art and jewelry printing.
Dilemma: facing ethical challenges
In the future 3D printing world, people can print anything whenever and wherever they need it. Of course, although the technology is good, it depends on how people apply it. Someone may use it to make weapons or new drugs that are not regulated or even toxic. Our environment may soon be flooded with printed plastic products that meet a variety of needs. The ethical challenges of bioprinting will be more complicated than the controversy caused by stem cells. Black market traders are driven by interests to quickly earn black-earned profits by manufacturing and selling faulty machine parts, which often have problems at critical times.
Example: Cooking Cookies Online
This is a recipe for printing high-resolution 3D cookies: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 butter stick, 1/2 cup honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Print 10 to 15 times with a 3D printer and bake for 7 to 12 minutes at 177 degrees Celsius. When the cookie is printed, the heating platform automatically bakes the cookie. This baking can be called "online cooking."
Even a simple cookie print is a complicated engineering process. Any soda or baking powder will swell rapidly. Water will soften and spread the printed cookies, and finding the right balance between easy printing, high baking resolution and maintaining mouthfeel is the biggest technical challenge.
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