The core manufacturing concept of 3D printing technology originated in the United States at the end of the 19th century. This is a magical printer designed by the creator named "enricodini". It can print not only a complete building, but also any shape needed by astronauts in the spacecraft. At present, the technology has been applied in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering construction, automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information system, civil engineering and other fields.
In january2013, Professor wanghuaming of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics won the first prize of national scientific and technological invention for "laser forming technology for large and complex aircraft titanium alloy integrated parts". This technology is one of the so-called 3D printing technologies. For a time, 3D printing has become a hot topic on the street. Eight years later, the 3D printing boom has run out. What is the status quo of 3D printing? What is the future?
Internationally, 3D printing is currently in a stage of rapid development. In 2017, the global 3D printing market reached US $5.6 billion, an increase of 15% over 2016. Technically, 3D printing has been able to meet the needs of most industrial application scenarios; It can realize the manufacturing of metal and plastic parts and finished products, and its performance is equivalent to the traditional manufacturing process. The strength of metal parts is better than that of castings and slightly lower than that of forgings; It solves the problem of raw material preparation, and all weldable metals can use 3D printing technology
From the perspective of cost, 3D printing has achieved economic benefits in high-value and high added value industries such as aviation, aerospace, military industry and medical treatment. Professor wanghuaming's award-winning "laser forming technology for large and complex integral parts of aircraft titanium alloy" fills the gap in China and is also one of the few 3D printing integral forming technologies for large titanium alloy materials in the world. The 3D printing manufacturing of domestic large aircraft wing sheet metal parts makes up for the deficiency of domestic forging process of such parts; The titanium alloy door hinge of Airbus A320 realizes the lightweight design and manufacturing of unconventional structural parts through the application of 3D printing technology; With the adoption of 3D printing technology in the manufacturing of aero-engine nozzle by GE, one part has replaced several parts in the past, reducing the manufacturing cost.
At present, the main problems of 3D printing technology are high equipment cost, high raw material cost and low processing efficiency. For example, the M400 3D printer of EOS company sells for 1.3 million euros, the printing speed is only 100 cubic centimeters per hour, and the raw material is titanium alloy powder of 3000 yuan per kilogram. Due to the above reasons, the cost of mass production of 3D printing is relatively high, but with the progress of technology, the cost of 3D printing will be rapidly reduced and the performance will be greatly improved in the future
In China, the 3D printing industry has also developed rapidly, and various 3D printer manufacturers have sprung up. 3D printers are widely used in all walks of life, with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands, tens of thousands or even millions. Of course, it is widely used to make hand boards. What is handicraft? Some places are also called the first board, that is, the first sample of the product. During the design of your products, if you directly open the mold for production, once the products have design problems, they will all be scrapped, wasting manpower, material resources and time; Moreover, there are only a few samples of the hand board, so there is no need to open a mold, and the production cycle is short, thus saving cost and time.
Today, 3D printing has not really entered public life. At present, although there are many 3D printing services and offline experience stores, they are mainly used for printing portraits and customized products. However, the cost of printing a simulated portrait is about 1500 yuan, resulting in fewer customers. However, as a new manufacturing technology, 3D printing should not only be used to manufacture those flashy items. In the future, it will be integrated into the lives of ordinary people and become a powerful tool in the hands of mankind
In the future society, with the arrival of aging, labor shortage, labor costs will be higher and higher. Perhaps in the near future, human resources will become scarce and expensive resources in the whole society, which can be seen from the development trend of first tier cities and Western countries. Many people will be forced to become DIY users. 3D printing is a powerful tool for DIY users and various enthusiasts.
