The Magic of Industrial 3D Printers: Their Applications in The Industrial World

Introduction:

Industrial 3D printing technology has matured rapidly in many specific aspects, crossing the key thresholds of print quality, reliability, and cost structure. The latest advances in machinery, materials, and software enable a wider range of enterprises to use 3D printing. Subsequently, more and more companies are able to use tools previously limited to a few high-tech industries. Ranging from the healthcare to automotive industries, 3D printers has now been widely used in the development of machine vision system in the industrial world. But, how exactly can 3D printing assist in different industrial applications? Here we list several important application scenarios that you should know:

Prototype Design & Manufacturing

Traditional injection mold costs a lot of expenses and time - it takes several weeks to produce a single mold. With 3D printing technology, manufacturers can greatly shorten the production time, and only takes a few hours to produce a prototype. Particularly, these technologies include fused deposition modeling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), material spraying, and metal 3D printing. In addition, with the popularity of cloud computing technology, many companies even provide services to consumers which allow them to build components and objects remotely without purchasing a 3D printer.

Medical & Healthcare

The most concerned market segment of 3D printing is its application in the medical field. It is undeniable that the practice of 3D printing in medicine is making contributions to patients and the medical industry. Precisely, 3D printing can be used to print hearing aids, prosthesis, casts for broken bones, splints, and even exact replicas of organs. Moreover, human tissues along with organs and prosthetics can also be made with 3D printers. It has not only revolutionized the market of medical implants and prosthetics, but also dramatically improved and expand medical education perspectives. For example, the 3D print can be used for preoperative training and educational display.

In the pharmaceutical case, scientists also have been using additive manufacturing to print 3D tablets and capsules. With the diversification of 3D printing technology, personalized drugs are being developed, and their dosage forms are suitable for personal needs.

Automobiles & Automation

At present, industrial 3D printers mainly process polymer materials and metal materials, which are also the raw materials used most in traditional automotive manufacturing. Nowadays, automotive giants such as GM, Audi, and Jaguar have been applying 3D printing to improve their manufacturing efficiency.

Through additive manufacturing, automobile or automation companies can shorten the prototype design time from a few months to a few days. 3D printing allows them to insert fixtures and fixtures directly into parts, thereby reducing assembly time. In addition, the cost of a conceptual model and functional prototype design can also be reduced, thereby leading to cheaper finished goods. Last but not least, as the 3D print files can be permanently stored in the system, whenever there is an urgent need, manufacturers can just find the file and print them at any time.

Civil Engineering & Construction

In the civil engineering and construction industry, 3D printing can shorten the product development cycle and optimize the process for users in terms of design, engineering, manufacturing, and quality verification. In addition, its scanning and design solutions are mainly used to capture real objects and 3D modeling and can be used to carve complex surfaces, prepare for batch manufacturing, etc. This significantly reduces the need and cost for using human labor, as the 3D printing machines are able to work endlessly for as long as we want.

Besides the above examples, 3D printing has changed the way of manufacturing in many more industries and rapidly replaced the traditional working methods which are relatively costly and timely. In the long term, we can perceive that there is still a lot of room for this technology, its potential is infinite. Established in December 2019, SmartMore is committed to applying computer vision technology in the field of smart manufacturing and digital experience. We provide different industrial products such as a 3D printer, industrial camera, and industrial PC. If you are interested, please click HERE to get more information.