3D printer technology
Today, 3D printing is about to change a number of economic industries, and more and more people are convinced of its advantages in the fields of fast prototyping, design, advertising, production in small series and a number of other areas.
Still: how does it work?
Generally speaking, 3D printing is the creation of 3D objects by overlaying the source material layer by layer, following a predefined pattern. To some extent, the process resembles inkjet printing, but it is considerably more complex.
What is a 3D printer?
A machine called a 3D printer is used for this purpose. It usually has a printing head that overlays the material on a special platform, moving in three axes (three dimensions), as well as a chassis, a microcontroller and power supply.
What is happening?
The 3D printing process begins by setting a 3D model in the printer, and then begins the applying of layers of pre-loaded material, recreating the model. The result is a completed three-dimensional object that can be used as a prototype, design project, a mock-up or even for household purposes.
Materials
3D printing uses a variety of source materials, starting with different types of plastics (ABS, PLA, HIPS, etc.), also wood, metal and some exotic technologies working with chocolate or even human tissues. At this stage, the most widely used materials for 3D industrial printing are ABS (Polylactic Acid), PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), Flexible Polyester, Nylon, and HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene). You can learn more about the different types of materials here.
3D printing technologies
There are many different technologies for 3D printing. The most popular among them are FDM, SLS, SLA / DLP, Material Jetting and SLM. The Solid Fil’s team knows all these technologies in details, and can choose the most suitable one for you, according to your specific needs and requirements.