Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing): Definition, Process, Advantages, and Applications, Lecture notes of Industrial Technology

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Additive Technology

(CAD, 3D Printing)

● (^) NIST: ‘Additive manufacturing fabricates parts by building them up layer-by-layer, as opposed to cutting material away or molding it’. ● (^) ASTM: Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to a process by which digital 3D design data is used to build up a component in layers by depositing material. ● (^) Additive manufacturing can also be viewed as a way to turn a digital model (of the object to be constructed) into a physical one since it starts as a (3D) software design.

 (^) Additive manufacturing is the opposite of subtractive manufacturing which was used widely in the past involving gradual removal of layers from a solid block of any material either be wood or metal to form a 3D object.  (^) Additive manufacturing as the name indicates is the layer by layer deposition of a specific material to form a 3D shape or structure.  (^) This technique can be employed in powders be it glass, ceramic, metal and resins in liquid form. Figure. Subtractive manufacturing versus Additive manufacturing

What is Additive Manufacturing? ● (^) Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an appropriate name to describe the technologies that build 3D objects by adding layer-upon-layer of material, whether the material is plastic, metal, concrete. ● (^) In additive manufacturing (AM), material is applied layer by layer in precise geometric shapes based on a CAD model. In contrast, conventional manufacturing processes typically involve milling or otherwise removing material to create an object. ● (^) Additive manufacturing refers to the general manufacturing process - the production of objects by adding material - under which various production processes such as rapid prototyping, rapid tooling or mass customization. ● (^) Additive manufacturing offers significant benefits to a wide range of industries, whether it's the ability for agile product customization, functional integration, or rapid and cost-effective spare parts procurement. ● (^) Complex shapes and design elements can be easily cured on the materials using additive manufacturing techniques.

Process Involves 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing

● A few basic processes that are involved in 3D printing which are: -

1. Modeling: 3D printing begins with the process of designing the product in

digital form using software like AutoCAD, solid works, etc.

2. STL File Format: STL file format is mostly used in Stereolithography. It is

also called Standard Tessellation Language or Standard Triangle Language

STL file format is used for describing the surface geometry of an object to

be printed by the 3D printer before the process starts.

3. 3D Slicing: 3D slicing is the process of breaking down a design into several

layers. A slicer generates a G code which helps in providing instructions to

the 3D printer that is how the print process should be carried out.

The basic working principle of additive manufacturing

● AM technologies are made up of five basic steps: -

1. The first step is the generation of three-dimensional (3D) geometric modeling of the components to be made in AutoCAD, Pro/E, Catia, Solid work, or using any other CAD software.
2. After the creation of the digital CAD model, the second step is the conversion of the CAD file to the additive manufacturing file (AMF) format or a standard triangulation language (STL) file. These are the standard input file formats accepted by any AM machine. The STL file format is the representation of the CAD model by a series of triangles.

Figure. Schematic diagram of the basic principle of additive manufacturing technology

Advantages of Additive Manufacturing

● 3D printing first gained traction as a tool for rapid prototyping, but

as the technology has advanced, there are now numerous advantages

to choosing additive manufacturing for production. Here are some of

them:

 Design freedom

 Material options

 Lightweight

 Speed

 Less waste

 Cost savings

 On-Demand Production