How 3D-printing is changing the world

All of us are familiar with how documents are printed. You click the ‘Print’ button on your screen, the printer screeches and comes to life, and within seconds, you have a hard copy in your hand. Now imagine, if this same principle were to be extended to products or parts of products. In other words, what if you could ‘print’ a 3-dimensional object? It could be something made of plastic, metal or concrete or any other material. Imagine a machine spitting out an actual, tangible object. This is exactly what additive manufacturing is all about.

Additive manufacturing, also called ‘3D printing’, refers to fast and cost-efficient production of objects / parts from a CAD (computer-aided design) file. What a regular printer does is printing a single layer. However, what additive manufacturing or 3D printing does is create a product from multiple layers. Just as the term ‘additive’ suggests, this technique makes parts by layer by layer.

Unlike traditional manufacturing methods that mill or cut away from a slab of metal to produce a part, additive manufacturing ‘grows’ parts directly from a CAD file using layers of fine metal powder and an electron beam or laser. The result is complex and fully dense parts with minimum wastage, manufactured in a fraction of the time it would take using other methods. Additive manufacturing is slowly, but surely, changing the world of manufacturing. Given how innovative and disruptive it is, additive manufacturing is being hailed as The Next Industrial Revolution.

If the full potential of 3D-printing is realized, the world of manufacturing will see a number of breakthroughs. It opens up new horizons for companies looking to manufacture objects in a timely and cost-effective manner. Additive manufacturing lets you overcome the limitations posed by conventional methods. Time spent on R&D will be considerably reduced and companies can focus more on innovation.

With additive manufacturing, the possibilities are endless. In the future, if you are hungry, you may be able to 3D-print a meal. Imagine, doctors could 3D-print a tissue to replace damaged skin or even reproduce an entire organ, thus eliminating the need for an organ donor. While all of these remain a distant reality, companies such as GE are using 3D-printing to improve our present and as a consequence, better our future.

When it comes to innovating with technology and pushing the envelope, GE has always been at the forefront and their foray in additive manufacturing is no different. Their engineers have produced a model of a jet engine using an advanced 3-D printing technique called direct metal laser melting. This technique is gaining popularity for its ability to make stronger components with less material wastage.

 The field of aviation is one of the beneficiaries of additive manufacturing. On October 6 last year, a Boeing 747, modified for testing jet engines, took off with a brand new engine from a runway along Mojave Desert in United States. It was the engine’s maiden flight and a historic one, at that. The engine flew with 19 fuel nozzles 3D-printed by a computer-guided laser from layers of metal powder.

Additive manufacturing lets designers achieve lighter and more durable shapes. The 3D-printed fuel nozzle, for example, is five times more durable than the previous model, and 25 percent lighter. Additive manufacturing allowed engineers to reduce the number of individual pieces that were brazed and welded together from 20 to just one part, and achieve the best fuel flow geometry.

There are numerous benefits of additive manufacturing, but the biggest one perhaps is customization. Companies will be able to think beyond their enormous assembly lines and create customized products. Given that 3D-printing does not follow the subtractive model of manufacturing, it will be economical for companies to go the additive manufacturing way. With less turnaround times, wider portfolios and more durable products, they will be able to reach the zenith of their manufacturing abilities.

However, additive manufacturing is relatively in its nascent stages and there is more ground to be covered before we realize its true potential. And once we do, it could turn out to be the genie that the manufacturing industry was waiting for!