What is 3D Printing ?

by | Mar 7, 2018 | Blog | 1 comment

3D Printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of producing a part directly from digital design (3D design). Exactly opposite to conventional subtractive manufacturing. There are various additive manufacturing technologies producing parts in different materials, but they all work on the same basic principle: adding material layer by layer to manufacture a three-dimensional object directly from CAD data.

How it works ?

Let’s breakdown the working of 3D printing in three simple steps:

Generating 3D CAD data

In order to 3D print something, you will need 3D design of the object you want to make. The CAD data can be generated in two ways – Either you design the object in a 3D modelling software (such as Catia, Solidworks, Fusion 360, Blender) or use a 3D scanner to scan the object you want to make. The 3D design is usually exported in STL(Standard Tessellation Language) format.

 

Slicing

As the name suggests, it involves the process of slicing the 3D design(STL file) in multiple horizontal 2D layers using a 3D Printing software (such as Simplify 3D, Cura, Slic3r, Repetier Host). The software converts the design (STL file) into a G-code(G programming language), which is exported to the 3D printer.

 

Printing (layer by layer)

The 3D printer reads the horizontal 2D layers, and simultaneously deposits thin layers of material, one on top of the other, to create a three-dimensional object. This technology takes us on the path of fearless designing, where we can unleash our creative potential to design and test new ideas.

1 Comment

  1. Ajay Apatwar on May 23, 2018 at 5:56 am

    Clear Sir..

    Reply

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