3D printing, the future of online printing?

3D printing, a rapidly developing technology, both technically and economically. 3D printers are constantly gaining in efficiency and costs are falling:plastic, polymer or even metal, it is now possible to print in many materials. It is for this reason in particular that companies are now turning more and more to 3D printing when it comes to prototyping (and not only). With models of 3D printers at low prices, individuals are not missing out.

To print parts in 3D, there are two solutions:opt for the purchase of a 3D printer corresponding to the needs and print the parts yourself, or turn to specialized 3D printing services, in particular to the online printing. Until recently, the printer only needed to think in 2D, but today it is very likely that the printing profession will gradually integrate 3D.

How does 3D printing work?

3D printing, called "additive manufacturing » in the professional environment, is a process for shaping parts by adding material , by stacking successive layers of material. Before being manufactured, an object must be modeled. To do this, a designer draws the object using computer-aided design software (CAD); some technologies also make it possible to scan a physical object directly in order to obtain a 3D digital model.

The file produced by the CAD software or by the scanner is then processed by a 3D pre-printing software responsible for cutting the digital model into 2D slices corresponding to the different layers that will be stacked. Once the cutting is done, it is saved in a new file and sent to the printer. The latter generally has three nozzles moving on the x/y/z axes , which synthesize the different layers of material by piling them on top of each other, in order to reconstitute the volume of the piece.

What are the different types of 3D printing?

Several printing processes exist and differ in the method of projection or fixing of the material:

• • CLIP (Continuous Liquid Interface Production):the solidification of the liquid resin is carried out using a UV laser
  • EBM (Electron Beam Melting):the liquid photopolymer is solidified using an electron beam
  • FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling):a thermoplastic filament is melted at a temperature between 150 and 400°C, then deposited by re-melting on the previous layers
  • MJM (Multiple-jet modelling):the resin is deposited by multiple projections
  • SLS (Selective Laser Sintering):the powder is solidified by laser then agglomerated on the other layers by sintering
  • SLM (Selective Laser Melting):the metal is melted then agglomerated by laser
  • FTI (Film Transfer Imaging):the photopolymer resin present on a transparent film is solidified by the light of an overhead projector
  • DMD (Direct Metal Deposition):the metal powder is liquefied by laser
  • SLA (Stereolithography Apparatus):the photosensitive resin is treated by laser then hardens to form the object

Thanks to these processes, many materials such as ceramics, thermoplastics, plastics, metals, epoxy, acrylic polymers and paper, can be used.

However, objects such as semiconductors still pose problems in the management of materials and therefore it is currently very difficult to print parts for computing, electronics and photovoltaics.