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WINDOW INTO 3D PRINTING
A Window into the 3D Printed World
Sharon D. Hartsell
Appalachian State University
Author Note
This paper was prepared for English 2001, Section 147, taught by Andy Roller.
Abstract
3D printing is a revolutionary technology that is rapidly coming into focus as a new manufacturing method. It has the potential to be more efficient and less wasteful for manufacturing a wide variety of objects,from shoes to airplane parts, or even buildings. In the not so distant future, we may see 3D printed food, weapons, or even living tissue. 3D printing is also contributing to advances in anthropology, forensic science, and medicine.
A Window into the 3D Printed World
Robert Downey, Jr., truly became Ironman for Ironman 2. Certain scenes in the movie couldn’t be computer generated, so instead of building an Ironman suit by hand, the filmmakers turned to 3D printing. 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, involves using a 3D printer to put down layers of materials to make complex shapes based on a digital design model. In“the film’s scenes that were done in live-action—as opposed to CGI (computer-generated imagery)—its star, Robert Downey, Jr., can be seen wearing a suit that was first digitally modeled, then produced in pieces on a sophisticated 3D printer, and then painted” (Terdiman, 2012). In addition to reducing handwork, this also allows directors to more convincingly mix CGI and live-action because the 3D printed model is based on the same digital model as the CGI scenes are using. 3D printing is an up-and-coming technology that could revolutionize manufacturingby increasing efficiency and reducing waste, or even bringing manufacturing into your living room. There are many applications for 3D printing, including printing objects, buildings, organs, food, even weapons, as well as applications in forensic science, medicine, and anthropology.
How It Works
To understand how 3D printing works, imagine replacing the inks in a basic inkjet printer with plastic, or other materials. Then, the printer can print the material in layers based on a digital model to create a three-dimensional object (Noorani, 2012, p. 5). 3D printed products range widely in scale. For example, forgoing traditional production methods, Continuum Fashionprints lightweight yet sturdy high heels out of layers of nylon(Mok, 2012). Or, on a larger scale, Italian inventor Enrico Dini “has developed a huge three-dimensional printer called D-Shape that can print entire buildings out of sand and an inorganic binder” (Dulis, 2011). The printer can create curved surfaces that are typically very expensive, and the construction time is four times faster than traditional building methods. It is also eco-friendly because there is less waste left behind. There is even the possibility of printing a moon base using lunar dust. This technology could lead to more efficient and sustainable building methods (Dulis, 2011).
Sustainability and 3D Printing
There are three main environmental benefits to additive manufacturing: less waste, no need for specialized machines, and files can be transmitted digitally, so parts can be printed where they are needed. On the other hand, 3D printing is electricity-intensive and slow in production(Grunbaum, 2012). This hasn’t stopped General Electric (GE) from integrating 3D printing technology into their manufacturing processes to increase efficiency. Traditionally, many pieces of metal are welded together to create one fuel injector. With 3D printing, a laser “traces out the shape of the injector’s cross section on a bed of cobalt-chrome powder, fusing the powder into solid form to build up the injector one ultrathin layer at a time” (“more efficient product manufacturing,” 2012, p. 9). A 3D printed fuel injector is less costly to produce and is expected to be lighter weight. GE is also 3D printing “4-ft long strips bonded onto the leading edge of fan blades...[which] deflect debris and create more efficient airflow” (“more efficient product manufacturing,” 2012, p. 9). Previously, forging these strips took hours and about 50 percent of the titanium was lost. GE estimates it will save about $25,000 per engine by switching to additive manufacturing. Clearly, 3D printing is a more efficient manufacturing method in terms of reducing waste and costs. Both of these 3D printed parts are expected to be used commercially by 2013, and start appearing in full-scale production runs by 2016 (“more efficient product manufacturing,” 2012, p. 9).
Additive manufacturing can also reduce waste by allowing people to make repairs instead of buying new. In an article from National Public Radio (NPR), an interviewee used 3D design software to recreate the exact part he needed to fix the lock on his dryer door, which would have cost him nearly $40 to buya replacement part or several hundred dollars for a new dryer. In the future, you could design and print your own parts to do simple household fixes like this yourself. And, if you don’t have the software or the know-how to design your own 3D model of the part you need, many free designsand software are available online. For example, 123D Catch is a free programthat generates a digital 3D model from pictures of the object you want to recreate (Kalish, 2012). 3D printing has the potential to reduce waste in factories and in homes.
3D Printed Food
Surprisingly, food can be printed as well. You could design a cake digitally and simply print your design in lines of frosting on the cake. 3D printing technology can3D print soft foods, like cookie dough, frosting, or even a burrito. It uses raw ingredients like inks dispensed through syringe-like nozzles. Imagine printing cookie dough instead of mixing it by hand—you could make cookies in any shape without a cookie cutter in sight, and you wouldn’t be left with wasted scraps of dough (Read, 2011).
But printed food doesn’t stop at cookie dough. A Missouri-based startup called Modern Meadows has received funding to 3D print meat. According to Modern Meadow co-founder Andras Forgacs, hamburgers are “an environmental train wreck” due to the high resource intensity required to produce them (Langan, 2012). A recent NPR study found that “it takes 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water, 74.5 square feet of land, and 1,036 BTUs of fossil fuel energy for feed production” (Langan, 2012). Modern Meadows’ initial goal is to print an edible 1-inch piece of meat using the same 3D printing technology currently in use to print medical grade tissue. However, the greatest challenge for printed meat is convincing the consumer that it is desirable. Printed meat would reduce the number of livestock going to the slaughterhouse and the tremendous resource cost associated with raising livestock. Yet, “printed meat” soundsunsavory, and considering the current backlash against genetically modified food, it will likely be a long time before printed meat shows up in the grocery store (Langan, 2012).
3D Printed Weapons
There is alsoa dark side to 3D printing with the developing ability to print weapons. Defense Distributed is an organization dedicated to creating “a design file for what they call a Wiki Weapon, a functional, 3D-printed firearm” (Brown, 2012). There are significant hurdles, like the concern that printing plastic may not be strong enough to make a stable weapon. Furthermore, there are legal considerations, such as “the Undetectable Firearms Act [which] says, simply, that you may not manufacture or possess a firearm that cannot be detected by an airport metal detector” (Brown, 2012). However, Defense Distributed is confident about producing a 100 percent 3D printed gun and then making this knowledge publicly available. According to Cody Wilson, chief spokesman, it’s “less about the gun...than about democratizing manufacturing technology. His intention is that ‘the non-expert user will have the ability to make a gun with just a click’” (Brown, 2012). What if printing out a gun was as easy as printing aWord document? Gun control laws would be extremely difficult to enforce, and criminals would have unprecedented access to weapons (Brown, 2012).
Medical Applications
On the bright side, 3D printing offers some exciting applications for medical technology. Bioprinting involves 3D printing a new organ using the patient’s own cells as “ink,”significantly reducing the chances that the organ would be rejected once transplanted. Bioprinting could put an end to the waiting list for organs. There’s even the potential to bioprint skin for burn victims (Boykin, 2011). My aunt needs a kidney transplant, so bioprinting is something I really hope to see become reality.
The medical field can also benefit from being able to print models of a patient’s bones from a computer tomography (CT) scan. Using these models, surgeons can rehearse complicated procedures, reducing the time spent in actual surgery and the risk of complications (Noorani, 2006, p. 270). 3D printing also allows for customized surgical implants and prosthetics. Currently, surgeons use standard size implants, meaning “a patient is often left on the surgery table...while the implant is being customized to fit” (Noorani, 2006, p. 271). Instead, a custom implant could be 3D printed in advance based on CT scans. A 3D printed prosthetic can also be tailored to fit the patient exactly, accommodating the patient’s specific alignment characteristics and providing reinforcement for weight-bearing regions of the prosthetic socket. This would decrease the number of times the prosthetic must be refitted, making it easier on the patient and reducing the cost (Noorani, 2006, p. 271).
Forensic Science Applications
Forensic scientists in Poland used 3D printing for the first time to determine how a woman suffered a fatal head injury. An elderly woman was found in her home with multiple severe head wounds. She was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery for numerous skull fractures, but she died due to severe brain damage. The forensic scientists’ task was to determine exactly what caused her injuries. Using a CT scan taken before the patient underwent surgery, they were able to create a digital 3D model of her skull and the injuries she sustained. The shape and pattern of the fractures suggested death by blows to the head from a relatively small object. Then, they printed a physical 3D model to compare with potential weapons. “The only tool [they] were able to able to reasonably match to the bone injury was a handle of a fire poker, the shape of which was consistent with the shape of the reconstructed fractures” (Wozniak et al., 2012). In this case, printing a 3D model was key to explaining how the injuries occurred. While CT scans and digital models may suffice in some cases, a physical model is better suited for explaining the mode of injury to people with no medical training, such as a jury in court(Wozniak et al., 2012). Being able to model a crime is especially important due to the CSI effect, which “is short-hand for the enhanced expectations jurors have for forensic evidence — and corresponding disregard for circumstantial evidence — as a result of watching crime and punishment shows on television” (French, 2011). The prosecution could present an exact 3D printed model of the victim’s skull to show jurors clearly how the fire poker could be the weapon. Having a physical model could make the difference between convicting the wrongdoer and letting a criminal off simply because the jurors expected more impressive evidence (French, 2011).
3D printing is also a useful tool for identifying remains, particularly when there are no living relatives. The remains of a soldier killed in World War I, now identified as Private Thomas Lawless, were discovered “in 2003 at a construction site near Avion, France” (Thilmany, 2012). Due to a lack of living family members, standard DNA testing for identification was not possible. So, the research team, led by Andrew Nelson, “an associate dean of research for faculty of social science at the University of Western Ontario in London,” created a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model of Lawless’ skull from scans of large skull fragments (Thilmany, 2012). Then, they 3D printed a physical model of Lawless’ skull, from which an artist reconstructed a face out of modeling clay, “guided by muscle markings on the skull model and tissue-depth tables” (Thilmany, 2012). Finally, the team photographed the reconstructed face and compared it with photographs of potential matches, looking at face and jaw shape. They narrowed it down to two potential matches, and used further analysis of the teeth and jawbone to determine that the remains were indeed those of Lawless. Facial reconstruction is not limited to identifying the remains of soldiers; it could also be applied to Egyptian mummies, to recreate a face or create physical models of the bones without disturbing the wrappings (Thilmany, 2012).
Anthropology Applications
Anthropology can also benefit from 3D printing. It allows anthropologists to study and run tests on “accurate replicas of delicate bones and artifacts...without causing any damage to the original finding” (Noorani, 2006, p. 271). The models are created from CT scans with a high degree of accuracy, making them suitable for both research and display. For example, the “Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History is currently using [additive manufacturing] technology to re-create and replace a triceratops skeleton that has been standing since 1905” (Noorani, 2006, p. 284). Due to the age of the bones and the fact that the skeleton has been standing for over 100 years, the bones are beginning to weaken and are in danger of collapsing. The replica will be more complete than the original due to more current information and “the ability to replicate bones that were initially missing” (Noorani, 2006, p. 284).
3D printing can also help students in the classroom. Cornell University has a collection of kinematic machines designed by Franz Reuleaux in the late 1800s. Considered the father of kinematics (the geometry of motion), Reuleaux created “more than 800 models of simple mechanisms, such as a crank,” to “teach students about kinematics and the history and theory of machines” (Thilmany, 2012). Until recently, Cornell students could only look at these models on display, but now they can print out a model of their own. “Rather than just seeing virtual models or watching movies online, students anywhere with access to the Internet and a 3-D printer will be able touch and experience these models directly and get a true sense of how they function” (Thilmany, 2012).
3D printing has an astounding number of applications in a variety of fields, from food to weapons to forensic science. And the industry is growing, according to the Wohlers Association of Fort Collins, Colorado. The 2012 report “found that global industry revenue for 3-D printers, products, and services grew nearly 30 percent in 2011” (“Is Print Dead?” 2012). 3D printing is growing rapidly and being used in manufacturing for both prototyping and production. The best use of 3D printing in production is for expensive and relatively low volume products, like aerospace parts and dental implants. The growth trend also includes an increased number of designs for items like jewelry and light fixtures that are printed and sold “‘on demand by companies like Shapeways and Materialise. It is a relatively small segment of the $1.7 billion 3-D printing industry, but it is growing very fast’” (“Is Print Dead?” 2012). 3D printing is an exciting new part of the printing industry, and one that promises strong growth for the future (“Is Print Dead?” 2012).
References
3-D printing for more efficient product manufacturing. (2012). Advanced Materials & Processes, 170(2), 9.
Advanced Materials & Processes is published by ASM International, a “society dedicated to serving the materials science and engineering profession” according to its About page online. The organization is the authority on new developments in materials and manufacturing processes, so this information seems credible.
Boykin, S. (2011, November 28). Growing organs, cell at a time. Charlotte Observer. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from
The Charlotte Observer is a reliable newspaper, and this article includes an interview with the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The article also opens with a case study about a bladder grown in a lab and transplanted, showing that functional organs can already be made in the lab. This makes the possibility of bioprinting in the future more believable.
Brown, R. (2012, September 6). You don't bring a 3D printer to a gun fight -- yet. In CNET. Retrieved September 28, 2012, from
CNET is a website dedicated to showing“you the exciting possibilities of how technology can enhance and enrich your life,” according to its mission statement. The information about new technology seems dependable, but the site is definitely pro-technology. Therefore, the articles may overemphasize the benefits of new technology while downplaying possible side effects.
Dulis, P. (2011, February 7). The world of 3D printing expands to build a house. Graphic Arts. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from
Graphic Arts is an industry magazine, so the article is written from the perspective of business owners looking to incorporate new technology into their businesses. This article has a section entitled “Market Opportunities” to point out the many industries in which 3D printing is already in use, presumably to encourage business owners to invest in the new technology.