7 incredible uses of 3D printing technology in the real world

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Now that 3D printers are cheaper to produce, experts predict that it will not take long before anyone else gets in the house. Even today, more and more companies are realizing the prospects of implementing 3D printer technology in their own businesses. People now print items for various uses, from construction and medical devices to entertainment items. Here are just some of the amazing examples of three-dimensional printing in 2018.

What is 3D printing?

The printing of 3D began in the 1980s when Chuck Hull designed and printed a small glass. The 3D printed article created from a digital file and a printer which puts successive material layers until the creation of the object is complete. It uses less material than traditional construction. Most materials used in 3D printing are thermoplastics – a type of plastic that becomes wet when heated but solidifies when it cools. However, as the technology matures, researchers find new materials -even edible- that can be printed in 3D.

Prosthetic limbs and other parts of the body

Veterinarians who have built 3D masks to help dogs recover from serious facial injuries to the use of surgical articles, prosthetic limbs, and body parts models are the infinite applications of 3D printing in medicine. In an experiment conducted by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, a mouse with printed ovaries gave birth to healthy newborns.

Houses and other buildings

In less than 24 hours, a 120 sqm house was built in a suburb of Moscow with 3D printing technology. The possibilities for the quick erection of houses and other three-dimensional constructions are particularly attractive, as time is critical when emergency shelters for areas after natural disaster need to be created. In addition, the possibilities for implementing new architectural visions, which were not previously possible with current construction methods, will lead to design innovations. One entire two-story home was printed with this technology in just 45 days from beginning to end in Beijing. Researchers from Germany also printed a three-dimensional glass house, which today is only available in miniatures, but they were the first to find how to print 3D glass.

Edible 3D printing

If you look at the traditional dessert decoration techniques, they are very similar to the 3D printing application process. Just like in three-dimensional plastic printing, a 3D chocolate printer starts with a digital design and creates chocolate layers. Thus the object is the mattress layer. Since chocolate hardens quickly at room temperature, it is an ideal edible material for 3D printing, but the companies have printed other edible creations of ice cream and cookie dough.

Arms

The Defense Distributed was the first to create a three-dimensional weapon in 2013 called Liberator. While there are three-dimensional printers that can use metal, they are very expensive, so the Liberator was printed with plastic.

Industries

There are many applications in various industries such as automotive, aerospace and others for 3D printing, printing of machine replacement parts and prototype new products, creating molds and tools to improve the efficiency of the production process.

Musical instruments

From the extraordinary 3Dvarius, inspired by a Stradivarius violin, up to flute and backpack, various musical instruments and instrument parts such as mouthpieces were created using 3D printers. In fact, the world ‘s first concert with a 3D printed band (drums, keyboards, and two guitars) took place at the University of Lund, Sweden.

Anything you can think of

The most excellent thing about 3D printing is that it can be used to create almost anything you can think of. It simply requires the digital file and the right material.   Source: www.capital.gr