The Most Important 3d Printing Technologies & Materials You Should Be Aware Of
If you think that the majority of 3D printers utilize filaments and terms like Stereolithography, Laser Sintering and PolyJet Printing can cause headaches If so, this blog article is for you. This article will provide an overview on the most significant 3D printing techniques and 3D printing products currently being employed in the industrial sector.
3D printing using filament
Home printers usually work with plastic filament. Fused Filament Fabrication is the name of the technology. Our 3d printed products factory has higher-end industrial equipment. Our 3D printers made of filament utilize Fused Deposition Modeling technology (FDM).
An FDM printer makes use of the long filament of plastic fed from a spool to the nozzle. The material is melts on the surface and then drawn on the platform, where it instantly hardens. The nozzle moves to place the filament in the right position to build your model layers by layers. Once a layer has been drawn, the platform is lowered by one layer thickness so the printer can begin with the next layer. This sounds similar to an ordinary printer at home. Check out the details!
3D printing using powder-based materials
The next large family of 3d printing service that we have isn't built on filament but instead on powder. Laser Sintering is used to create 3D prints using Polyamide, Alumide, and Polypropylene.
The inside of the printer is heated until just below the melting point of the powder of your choice. This powder is then evenly dispersed through the printer. Laser beams heat up the regions that have to be sintered to just over the melting point. And voila: the parts that were affected by the laser's heat have been fused, while the rest continues to remain as loose powder.
The models are printed layer by layer by using the laser beam. A roller spreads a layer of powder across the surface after each layer has been printed. The end result of the printing job is a large block of powder with the models that have been inked. To get your prints out of the block, we must dig into the container of powder that is not intered and then scrub off the excess.
Resin-based 3D printing
We are now entering technology that is used by some of the largest 3d printer under 100. Our Mammoth printers can print as long of 2.1 meters (6.9 feet)! These printers do not utilize powder or filament. They make use of liquid resin. Stereolithography is here! Stereolithography is carried out in a large tank. It begins with a layer liquid polymer that is spread across a platform. The UV-sensitive polymer can be hardened by the use of a UV laser to make one layer for your 3D printer. The rest of the layer remains liquid. The platform is then removed and the subsequent layer is directly layered on top of the previous one.
Once the object has been completed, it is lifted from the tank using the platform supporting it. It's like the rising of a submarine towards the water's surface. The excess liquid is then removed. The video below illustrates Stereolithography in motion.
What is the difference between Laser Sintering and this? We require support material to protect overhanging or stuck parts since we're using liquid materials. Once the model has been removed from the machine the supports are able to be manually removed. This means that the design freedom of this technology is somewhat restricted. Stereolithography materials feature smooth surfaces and many options for finishing and post-processing.