7 Interesting facts about 3D Printing
Forget shopping, soon we will be able to download our clothes. — Danit Peleg
In the last two blogs we talked about What is 3D printing and How to do 3D Printing? This blog aims to deliver some facts about 3D Printing that you most probably didn’t know of!
Sit back and enjoy!
1. Tony Stark used 3D printing!
Yes, you heard that right. Tony Stark aka Iron Man uses 3D printer named ‘Stratasys Dimension Elite’. In movie Iron Man 2, Tony Stark’s lab features this 3D printer in one of the scene.
2. There are dozens of other Hollywood movies that feature one or the other model of a 3D printer.
Some of them include- Small Soldiers (1998), Jurassic Park III (2001), Chinese Zodiac (2012)… just to name a few.
3. Your favourite Hollywood actors/actresses wear 3D printed props!
Quite a few movies have made use of 3D printing to create werables that come to life. Some examples are Black Panther (2018) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
4. 3D printing began in 1980s!!
The concept of 3D printing was laid as back as in 1974, by David E. H. Jones in the journal New Scientist. Later in 1984, person named Chuck Hull developed a method called “stereolithography” that made use of UV lasers to solidify photopolymer to create 3D objects part-by-part. Isn’t it bit older than you thought!
5. 3D printing is not limited to plastics!
The mechanism of additive manufacturing allows almost every material to be used for making objects, from wood to platinum. There are instances of gold (jewellery), ceramics, titanium and even carbon fibres (prosthetic limbs); being used in 3D printing world.
6. 3D printing is the key to Mars Colonization!
NASA has committed to colonize Mars in the future. NASA hosted a house design competition for the same and the number of participants who vouched for 3D printing was huge. In late 1990s, NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) conducted zero-gravity (zero-g) flight studies with a Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeler (v1600) 3D printer. According to NASA, “Lessons learned from this technology demonstration will be applicable to other in-space manufacturing technologies”.
7. 3D printing is the cheaper option!
Contrary to the popular misconception that 3D printing is hi-tech, thus costly; 3D printing or additive manufacturing is in- fact cheaper and faster than the traditional manufacturing processes. The reasons being less transportation cost, inventory cost and wastage of material incurred.
This is the reason why some industries like jewelery are becoming more 3D printing oriented as the time passes.
