The key to the revolution of 3D printing technology: rethink the shape of the product

3D printing has changed the production rules of special products such as medical equipment, but the revolution in 3D printing technology can only be realized when designers start to rethink the appearance of printed products.　　Unlimited shape　　3D printing technology experts said that this technology breaks the limits of production technology, and almost any object that can be designed by a computer can become a real object. But to truly realize the potential of this technology requires designers and engineers to reimagine new products.　　3D printing technology makes the geometric shape of the object almost unlimited. For example, a Belgian company, Materialise, recently printed a folding chair with a continuous and complete piece of plastic, and all the hinges were connected together. Traditional production techniques may be very expensive and require multi-component assembly later, but these problems can be avoided by 3D printing technology.　　Difficulty in mass production　　It has been 25 years since the prototype of 3D printing technology came out, but it has only recently achieved normal mass production. General Electric (GE) uses this technology to produce lightweight aircraft parts; it takes two weeks for dentists to produce dentures in the traditional way, while using 3D printing technology only takes one hour.　　 Scientists are still studying whether 3D printers can use the soil on the moon to build houses on the moon. Scientists hope that after successfully using stem cells to print human tissues, 3D printers can produce human organs someday in the future. But experts say that the current 3D printing process is still too slow and expensive to replace traditional mass production.　　Machine Aided Design　　Experts said that computer assistance can be introduced to improve the product design process. Parts that require structural integrity can allow the machine to perform mathematical operations to determine where the material should be placed. In this way, the final design result may be very different from the appearance of similar products usually seen.　　In the medicine, furniture and clothing design industries, machine-aided design technology has a profound impact. For example, more than 90% of in-ear hearing aids are produced using 3D printing technology, and smart software is used to calculate how to optimize the audio characteristics of hearing aids during the production process. 3D printing technology can greatly reduce its production costs.　　Material Mixing　　 In 1988, the first commercial 3D printer came out. Vancraen, the founder of Materialise, said: Now some 3D printers can mix materials with different properties, mixing materials with different hardness, softness, and density. This attribute of 3D printers is rarely involved in current research, but it is also difficult to master and use. u0026rdquo;　　Vancraen believes that through the mixed use of new materials, the scope of production and application of 3D printing technology will continue to be too large, eventually occupying 10% to 30% of the market share of the production industry.　　Experts estimate that the 3D printing industry was worth US$1.7 billion in 2011; as of 2015, its value will exceed US$3.7 billion. (The above is edited and compiled by the metal laser cutting machine from the Internet. For details, please refer to www.gnlaser.com)