It may seem distinctly low-tech compared to some of the many technology trends I write about, but 3D and 4D printing will have very wide applications – and could be particularly powerful when combined with other trends like mass personalization. In this article, I look at some of the surprising things that can now be created with 3D printers.
What Can 3D Printing Be Used For? Here Are 10 Amazing Examples
Adobe StockHow does 3D printing work?
3D printing (also known as “additive manufacturing”) involves creating a 3D object from a digital file, building it up layer by layer. So, if you were to slice a finished 3D printed object open, you’d be able to see each of the thin layers, a bit like rings in a tree trunk.
Before printing anything, you need a 3D model of the object you’re trying to create. The computer model is then "sliced," essentially dividing it into hundreds (or potentially thousands) of layers. This information is fed to the 3D printer, and, hey presto, it prints the object slice by slice.
The main benefit of this approach is that even complex shapes can be created much more easily, and using less materials than traditional manufacturing methods (which is good for the environment and the bottom line). Transport needs are reduced, since parts and products can be printed on-site. And one-off items can be made quickly and easily, without worrying about economies of scale – which could be a game-changer for rapid prototyping, custom manufacturing, and creating highly personalized products. What’s more, the materials used for 3D printing can be pretty much anything: plastic, obviously, but also metal, powder, concrete, liquid, even chocolate.
How does 4D printing differ?
4D printing is the same as 3D printing, but with a twist – namely, a built-in ability for the printed object to transform itself. In other words, the object being created can be programmed to change its shape when prompted by certain triggers, such as water or heat. For example, a storage carton could flatten itself, or a structure could repair itself after weather damage. Essentially, 4D printing is the cutting edge of additive manufacturing, which means it’s still very much in the experimental stage.
Amazing examples of 3D and 4D printing in action
As you can probably imagine, 3D and 4D printing have the potential to transform manufacturing. But these technologies have much wider applications beyond manufacturing settings – and many of these applications might surprise you. Here are some unexpected items that can now be successfully printed.
1. Bones and muscles
At the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, researchers have been able to print bones, muscles, and ears – a process known as bioprinting – and implant them successfully into animals. What’s really exciting is the printed tissue survived after being implanted and became functional tissue.
2. Ovaries
Overcoming infertility is often a long, painful, and expensive process. But one pioneering experiment gives hope that we might see an innovative new treatment approach in the future. At the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, a mouse was implanted with synthetic, printed ovaries. The mouse went on to give birth to healthy babies.
3. Pastries
Ukrainian architect-turned-pastry-chef Dinara Kasko has made a name for herself on Instagram by posting pictures of her striking geometric 3D printed pastries. And Kasko isn’t the only one printing food…
4. Pizza
The Foodini 3D food printer, made by Natural Machines, is designed to create personalized printed food. It can print pizza, bean burgers, and a range of healthier options using edible ingredients.
5. Buildings
Russian startup Apis Cor is able to 3D print a modest house in just 24 hours, and save up to 40 percent on construction costs. The mobile printer lays down layers of a concrete mixture to build up the walls, then, once the printer is removed, insulation, windows, and a roof are added. And because Apis Cor’s printing devices are mobile, houses can be printed on-site rather than in a factory.
6. A boat
The University of Maine set a Guinness World Record when it 3D printed the largest boat ever printed – a 25-foot, 5,000-pound boat called 3Dirigo. The supersize printer used to create the boat is able to print objects up to 100 feet long and 22 feet wide.
7. A kayak
Proving that you don't need an industrial kit to create impressive 3D printed objects, Jim Smith of Grass Roots Engineering created a full-size kayak on a home printer over the course of 42 days. Fully watertight and working, the colorful kayak took around $500 worth of materials to make.
8. Artwork for the blind
3D printing is even being used to give blind art lovers the ability to appreciate classic paintings, by turning those paintings into 3D printed sculptures.
9. Yourself (in miniature)
Thanks to startup company Beheld’s 3D printing technology, you can create a mini figurine of yourself. The perfect gift for loved ones? Sure.
10. Shape memory materials
4D printing is certainly less common than 3D printing, but one example shows how it could be used in the future. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have printed silicone material that is flexible and can adapt itself when heat is applied. This could, for example, be used to create truly customizable, form-fitting shoes that adapt to the wearer’s feet.
3D and 4D printing are just one of 25 technology trends that I believe will transform our society. Read more about these key trends – including plenty of real-world examples – in my new book, Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4th Industrial Revolution.
I’ve been tinkering with 3D printers for quite a while and a question I had back when I was a beginner was what can a 3d printer print? Based on my extensive experience and research here’s what I found.
A 3D printer can print virtually anything. Hobbyist 3D printers will typically only print plastic, however, industrial 3D printers can print metal. Metal 3D printers can create metal objects with extreme precision. For example, they can make engine parts and circuit boards.
3D printers can also only print 3d objects that are as big as the 3D printer is. So, if you want to print something really large, you need to buy a much larger 3D printer. However, with that comes a much bigger price tag. A regular 3D printer that you’d use at home can print objects that are around 1 ft by 1 ft (30 cm x 30 cm) comfortably.
In this article, I will explain what can be printed with a 3d printer, what materials can not be 3D printed with a 3D printer, whether you can print a phone, as well as, other helpful info about what the limits are to objects you can 3D print.
Some objects are very detailed and to create the design by hand using computer software would take a long time. But, how difficult is it to print anything on a 3d printer, and what exactly can be printed with a 3d printer?
You can virtually 3D print anything. The main limitation is how long it takes to create the 3D print design in a 3D printing software, how long it will take to print, and the size of the 3D printer you need.
However, there is now interesting technology that can create a 3D design based on photos of an object. And it takes dramatically less time.
Here’s a video showing the process of taking the photos, and creating the 3D print design:
But, waiting for the software to convert your images into a final 3D design can take many hours or days depending on how detailed it is.
Once it’s done though, you can export the file to your 3D printer for printing. Typically there’s some tidying work that needs to be done on it.
Although this method takes a lot less time than creating the design by hand, you do still need to take quite a lot of photos. Around 100 to 200 photos from lots of different angles will give you the best result.
Here’s a quick overview of the entire process of converting ANY object into a 3D print:
Certain objects though are best printed in parts. As a simplified example, if you wanted to print a plastic skateboard, you would print the wheels separately from the axel. That way the wheel can spin.
When people talk about 3D printing they normally mean 3D printing at home as a hobby. However, steel manufacturing facilities will use 3D printers to print metal parts. For example, they can print parts used in a car engine, circuit boards for computers, and electronic parts for devices like toasters and kettles.
As you may know, you can print plastic, and metal, however, what materials can you not print on a 3d printer?
Virtually all man-made materials can be 3D printed. However, some materials are extremely difficult and impractical to 3D print. Glass, for example, is not practical to 3D print because it has an extremely high melting point. Certain metals also have an extremely high boiling temperature and are thus impractical to 3D print.
A 3D printer is essentially a mechanical arm that is attached to a computer that can give it step-by-step instructions. Therefore, as long as a material is runny enough it can be printed using a 3D printer For example, there are also 3D printers that are designed to 3D print concrete.
Other materials won’t hold up when 3d printed because they are too soft or won’t go hard. Therefore, the sky is technically the limit when it comes to what material you can use in a 3D printer. However, a hobbyist type of 3D printer is typically only designed to work with plastics that have a specific formula. Which are commonly called 3D printer filaments.
A smartphone is an amazing device, and it has the power of a computer in a very compact size. I’ve often wondered how you would make a phone using a 3D printer and whether it can be done. Here’s what I found…
As a general rule, you can not 3D print a phone. However, you can 3D print a lot of the components for a phone. For example, you can 3D print the plastic exterior. 3D printers that can print metal are expensive and after you’ve printed the individual parts you still need to solder the parts together.
You can easily make an object that looks like a phone using a 3D printer. However, you couldn’t use it to make calls or send text messages.
3D printers that print metal are very expensive, and they cost around $50,000. After that, it needs to be set up, and you need to do special training, which requires the help of professionals that can be quite costly. And it isn’t really suited to a hobbyist 3D printer.
With 3D printing objects as a whole, I wanted to know whether there are any limitations to what you can create, and if so what are they?
The limits to 3D printing are:
A 3D printer creates an object a very small amount at a time. So, a big object can often take a week to print. Also, with intricate objects, the nozzle has to make more back and forth movements. And as a result, it takes much more time to print an intricate object.
Other materials are impractical to print. Glass, for example, requires temperatures of around 1300 °F (700 °C) to begin to melt. Recent work by scientists to 3D print glass has been successful, but it is extremely difficult to create precise objects. And most designs are lop-sided and don’t look like the design at all (source: link).
Well, that about covers everything you need to know about whether you can 3D print anything.
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