Let’s just say at some point in our lives as humans, we’d often wish      
it was possible for some of the things running through our mind to      
exist in the real world. Like. I remember wishing someone would just      
buy me a PS 1 console back in the days. Well, in the world we live in      
today, I’m glad to say we’re finally getting to the era where we could      
get things just as they were in our imaginary minds. This is the era      
of 3D printing and in this post, we are going to be looking at how 3D      
Printing works.     

Please understand that while we at fortune hill homes try to      
describe how 3d printing works, we’ll also throw more light on how      
this technology is going to better our lives now and in the future.      
Let’s just describe 3D printing as one of the revolutionary      
technologies of the 21st century. It’s a revolutionary technology      
because it’s going to usher a new way of doing things, whether in      
medicine, engineering, art, robotics, space travel, in all aspects of      
human endeavor.     

3D Printing Techniques      

Well, there are tons of 3D printing technology in the world today, but       
we’re going to be looking at the 4 most common forms;       
FDM       
SLA       
Laser Sintering       
PolyJet      

How Does 3D Printing Work?     

It’s very important to understand that there are other forms of 3D      
printing that might not be discussed in this article today this is      
because we saw the need to create awareness on the most widely      
used 3d printing Techniques today.      
Let’s explain these techniques briefly     

Fusion Deposition Modelling     

 
FDM is an acronym for Fusion Deposition Modeling. The FDM 3D       
printer is the one you must have seen in real life.       
Let’s see how it works     

How does an FDM 3D printer work?     

This type of 3d printer works like a hot glue gun. But this time, a hot      
glue gun operated by a robot.     

In this printer, a solid material known as the filament enters the      
printer in one end and is pushed off through a hot nozzle which      
melts this filament and after then, lays it in layers.     

The entering and melting, laying in layers is a sequence that      
continues till a full Three-dimensional object is achieved.     

What this means is that we could liken the Fusion Deposition      
Modeling to a 2D printing. The slight difference is that after each      
layer, the Hot Nozzle goes off what’s created and starts printing the      
next layer right on top of that printed before lifting off.     

Stereo Lithography.  

This is also known as SLA. It works by casting ultraviolet light into a       
pool of photoreactive resin.       
The resin solidifies on receiving the ultraviolet light to form a layer of       
the object being printed.     

The difference between Fusion Deposition Modeling and Stereo      
Lithography is that the SLA produces objects with finer details than      
the FDM      
Now let’s talk about the other 3D modelling technique which is laser      
Sintering     

Laser Sintering      
laser Sintering working by casting a very powerful laser beam over       
a layer of superfine powder thereby fusing the particles to produce a       
thin solidified layer     

On achieving the thin solidified layer, the machine further sweeps      
more powder over the top of the layer and continues to repeat the      
sequence a 3D object is completely created…     

laser Sintering 3D Printers are not used in domestic      
environments, however, they are industrially used to create large      
and durable objects from metal.     

Recent research mentioned that SpaceX uses laser Sintering      
technique to manufacture super Draco rocket engines    

PolyJet 3D Printing Technique   

     
The PolyJet technique combines Fusion Deposition Modeling and       
Stereo Lithography techniques to achieve its objectives.       
In PolyJet Technique, the machine squeezes out tiny droplets of       
photoreactive resin onto a built surface and this resin is hardened       
with ultraviolet light. The process is repeated several times till the       
object is formed from the bottom to the top       
The PolyJet is a 3D printing technique that is super fast with       
precision. However, you might be a bit disappointed to learn it costs       
a couple of tens of thousands of dollars to buy 1.     

Application areas of 3D printing     

Because we care about quality and spreading the good news about      
latest technology, we shall be talking not only How 3D Printers work,      
we want to share with you the various areas where the innovation      
would be more appreciated     

Prosthetics      
As you know, in prosthetics, every limb, arm needs to be customized      
for every individual which makes it a bit hard for prosthetics to be      
produced on a larger scale. Thanks to 3D printing which has made it      
so easy to the extent that a person’s body could be scanned and fed      
into the printer which then produces a copy to match the body      
geometry of the benefactor.     

Well, in the world of medicine, 3D printing doesn’t only work for      
prosthetics, it also touches such areas as organs. This is because      
scientists did print a mini human heart from stem cells. the heart      
printed with this technology is about 40% functional and currently      
used for pharmaceutical studies.     

Well, the heart so printed isn’t fully functional, but we believe a few      
advancements would be made within a few years that would enable      
the printing of more than a thousand functional hearts that could be      
used for heart transplant surgeries.     

3D Printed Shoes      
Take it to the doors of NIKE. The company is currently running their      
fly brand. The fly brand is a collection of 3D printed textile to be used      
in the production of sneakers. These shoes are easily customized      
for specific sports or athletes and the process allows these shoes      
to be designed 16 times faster than regular shoes     

3D Technology in Construction Industry     

Well, as we speak, there is a home known as Appis Coe in Russia,      
another in Dubai and Germany. These were 3D printed homes. We all      
understand how rigorous the construction industry has been over      
the years. It would take an advanced Construction company a few      
weeks to build a home. But with 3D printing, a home could be built      
within 24hrs and at a very reduced cost since labour and wastages      
won’t be there.     

Still on construction. A nonprofit startup company, ICON printed      
homes that provides 800 square foot living spaces. These are      
affordable housing solutions that cost less than 5000USD…      
The technology has helped the construction industry provide      
housing solutions in poor communities. These are cheap and quick      
to build since the 3D printer is there to print the walls in layers.      
Let’s remember it takes over 2 years to build a yacht. But with 3d      
Printing, this Herculean task would only take 90 days.     

The showbiz industry uses 3D Technology in Set design and prop      
making. Allows studios to create custom props quicker and far very      
cheaper than traditional it would be in traditional methods.     

What about 3D printed meals? Nova is using 3D printing to print      
foods such as Sushi, Pizza, Burgers, etc. It is believed that 3D      
printed food could be the solution for the world’s food shortages in      
the nearest future.     

Truth is, with 3D printing, we could outgrow printing rocket engines,      
prosthetics, objects and find ourselves in a world where even      
humans could be printed with machines     

Conclusion: How Does 3D Printing Work?     

While we were able to understand the different types and      
techniques in 3D Printing, we were also able to mention some      
application areas that we believe the technology would bring      
improvements to. Finally, we were able to understand that 3D      
printing is a technology that has more benefits to offer. Now that i      
understand how 3D Printers works, i am sure it would bring much joy!      

Yes, i can’t wait to be able to print my favorite Marvel Superheroes      
as soon as i lay my hands on a 3D Printer      
Thanks for dropping by