Mankind evolved and revolutionized manufacturing processes in last two centuries from manual labor to what we call today additive manufacturing. Some say that additive manufacturing (AM) is the fourth industrial revolution.

WHAT IS ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING?

Additive manufacturing, or as it is colloquial called 3D printing, is a computer controlled process of making a 3D object by adding layers upon layers of material where subtractive manufacturing (or machining) is a process of making an object by cutting off pieces from a solid block of material.

IMPORTANT MILESTONES

Additive manufacturing was introduced to the world in 1980’s. The first patent was filed in 1984 by Alain Le Méhauté, Olivier de Witte, and Jean for the stereolithography (link na “Technologies”) process. The same year, Chuck Hull of 3D Systems Corporation filed his own patent for a stereolithography manufacturing process. This process uses UV lasers to cure layers of photopolymers (link na “Materials”).

Later in 1988. S. Scott Crump and his company Stratasys introduced plastic extrusion called fused deposition modeling (FDM) (trademarked by Stratasys), nowadays also called fused filament fabrication (FFF).First FDM machine to see the light of day was presented by Stratasys in 1992. In years that came, there were few technologies developed by MIT (inkjet printer heads), Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University (new material deposition techniques and microcasting), Solidscape (high precision polymer jet fabrication system) that made today’s machines possible. Metal sintering processes such as selective laser sintering (SLS), direct metal laser sintering, selective laser melting were introduced in mid-1990’s.

First FDM machine to see the light of day was presented by Stratasys in 1992. In years that came, there were few technologies developed by MIT (inkjet printer heads), Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University (new material deposition techniques and microcasting), Solidscape (high precision polymer jet fabrication system) that made today’s machines possible. Metal sintering processes such as selective laser sintering (SLS), direct metal laser sintering, selective laser melting were introduced in mid-1990’s.

Another important milestone was the introduction of Rep Rap project (REPlicating RApid Prototyper) in 2005 that made 3D printer schemes and blueprints publicly available. It was a huge deal to additive manufacturing scene. Most of the early adopters were making improvements on machine available for free to the rest of the community. Open source development was critical for the large community to be formed and is still evolving to this day. The last incarnation of Rep Rap’s Prusa i3 is maybe the most affordable and the best way to familiarize beginners with the technology through assembling their first machine.

TODAY

In recent years 3D printing was familiarized by the mainstream media and introduced to a larger audience. The reason why it was only now is that the cost of the 3D printing machines and production price lowered. Technology evolved enough and simplified process so that average users could operate on desktop 3D printers.

Other synonyms used for 3D printing/additive manufacturing include layered fabrication, desktop manufacturing, rapid manufacturing (prototyping) and on-demand manufacturing.

3D printing process depends on the method used in creating layers. Most common technology for desktop 3D printers is FFF but there are few models that use vat photopolymerization (SLA/DLP) and powder bed fusion (SLS/SLM). Each method has its own advantages and drawbacks.

3D printers can be also categorized via material they use as a filament. There is a wide variety of materials available but most common are plastic, metal, wax, paper, composites.

There are lots of issues that need attention and that need to be solved before everyone will have one 3D printer in their home. Evolution is still ongoing so we still have to be patient until 3D printing machines could be decentralized mini-factories in every home.