1. business and industrial
2. manufacturing

Printing the Future.
Olaf Diegel
From A to Z
Life before academia
Design Today
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Today almost everything is designed in CAD
Modern CAD packages are becoming easier to
use and more powerful
CAD shows your product from any angle,
distance, colour, simulates movement
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CAD software is now at a level
where it can often replace the
sketchpad
CAD overcomes the brains 3D
limitations
But…
A design may look pretty on screen, but will it
meet the users’ needs and can it be efficiently
made?
Beautiful 3D computer models can result in
difficult to manufacture hardware that requires
expensive fabrication processes that add cost
and/or increase schedule.
Enter Prototyping…
AM for Prototyping
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Because of the comparative speed it offers
(speed to market, speed to go through extra
iterations, etc.), AM is worth using for
prototyping the vast majority (but not all) of
components.
Prototyping is also absolutely essential to
avoid costly design or manufacturing
mistakes.
Why prototype?
Subtractive Manufacturing 101
You want to make a bust of yourself...
The really old way: Take a block of material and
carve it out
The modern way
• Generate 3D model
• Generate CNC
program
• Machine away
unwanted material
• If possible, recycle
waste
Additive Manufacturing 101
The 3D printing way...
Generate a 3D CAD
model
• Software slices the
3D model into thin
slices
• Machine builds it
layer by layer
• The thinner the
slices, the better the
quality of the model
•
AM for Manufacturing
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The decision about whether a product should
be manufactured through AM comes down to
balancing Product Value vs Production
Quantity.
Choice of manufacturing method
Additive
manufacturing
Note: The part cost for most
manufacturing technologies
decreases as the quantity
increases!
Sand/Investment Casting
Milling & Turning
Pressure Diecasting
Part Cost
Forging
Extrusion
Sheet metal
Laser or waterjet cutting
CNC turret punching
Rotational molding
Blow molding
Injection Molding
0
Hundreds
Thousands
Tens of thousands
Manufacturing Quantity
Hundreds of thousands
13
Choice of manufacturing method
Pressure Diecasting
Injection Molding
Blow molding
Setup Costs
Rotational molding
Forging
Extrusion
Sand/Investment Casting
Milling & Turning
Sheet metal
CNC turret punching
Laser or waterjet cutting
Additive
manufacturing
0
Hundreds
Thousands
Tens of thousands
Manufacturing Quantity
Hundreds of thousands
14
3D Printing Processes
Solid Based
Plastic is extruded from a
filament and slice is traced
(hot glue gun)
Liquid Based
Photosensitive liquid
polymer is exposed to
laser/UV to cure
Powder Based
Layer of powdered
material is scanned with a
laser which selectively
melts the material
The Past
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For most of its first 3 decades, Additive
Manufacturing was known as Rapid Prototyping,
and mostly used for prototyping parts.
In the last decade AM has begun to make
appearances in real, commercially available,
products, ie. moved beyond prototypes.
This has generated a lot of hype and a few myths
Myth
Just hit print and you are done!
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The vast majority of 3D printing entails a
large amount of post-processing.
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This can range from removing support
material, to polishing, to machining, to
coating, to heat-treating, to colouring, to
sanding and painting, etc.
Lionel T. Dean’s Icon design
Print time: 8.5 hours
Post-processing time: 6~8 hours
Myth
3D Printing will kill traditional manufacturing!
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3D Printing will NOT replace conventional
manufacturing!
It is a complementary technology that, for
certain products, and if used the right way,
gives huge advantages over conventional
manufacturing
Advantage: Complexity for Free
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The more complex the part, the better it is
suited to Additive Manufacturing (AM).
Many simple parts can often be consolidated
into one much more complex parts as no
assembly is required (so less assembly
labour).
Art & Design Objects
Joshua Harker
Freedom of Creation
Textile & Fashion Applications
Freedom of Creation
Continuum Design
Joshua DeMonte
Francis Bitonti & Michael Schmidt Studios
Marketing
Designing for Additive Manufacturing
Topology Optimized, Nylon: 0.56gms
Myth
Anything can be 3D printed!
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In the context of manufacturing (rather
than prototyping) only parts of a suitable
level of complexity and value are
economically viable for 3D printing.
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Just because you can, doesn’t mean you
should!
To print or not to print: Complexity Filter
NO! These parts will be both
better quality and more
economical to make using a
variety of other
manufacturing methods
(laser cutting, CNC
machining, etc.
YES! These parts are reaching
a level of complexity where
they MAY be worth 3D printing
(assuming they are designed
that way on purpose)
Advantage: Mass customisation
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A small production run of parts can be
undertaken in which each part is uniquely
customized to suit the user
It costs no more to do 100 different
components than 100 of the same
component
This opens up a whole new area of business
for products that are mass-custom-made for
the user
Medical Applications
Hip socket, Ala Ortho, Italy, made on
Arcam machine
Dental Crowns and Bridges, EOS
Laser Sintered Hearing Aids,
EOS/Materialise
Dental aligners, Invisalign
3D printed Dog Jawbone
Lighting
MGX Design
Mass-Customisation
Know your baby before its born…
Tomohiro Kinoshita , of FASOTEC, the company
offering the 'Shape of an Angel' model, even offers
parents a miniature version which could be a 'nice
adornment to a mobile phone strap or key chain.'
Indirect AM Manufacturing Methods
Advantage: Complete Products
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Additive manufacturing allows the production
of complete products with moving parts. This
can greatly reduce the amount of assembly
(ergo labour) required to make products.
AM allows many simple parts to be
consolidated into a single more complex part
3D printed airplane
University of South Hampton
32 piece original
UAV Pitot Tube
1 piece Nylon test part
2 piece titanium final
Advantage: Try Ideas at No Risk
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Testing the market with an idea, using
traditional manufacturing methods, can often
be extremely expensive. AM allows small
production runs of product to be taken to
market with very little capital risk.
This allows many more inventors to realize
their inventions and test their market validity.
The potential for new businesses in this area
is enormous!
Innovative transport solutions?
Jenna Makgill, AUT University
Galantai Soap Dispenser
Short production run of
100 units undertaken for
Australian market.
Cost ~US$2000
Oceania Defence
Rifle Suppressors
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3D Printed in titanium on EOSM270
Complex internal baffles and cavities
Reduces dB to below that required for ear
protection
Americas Cup, Team New Zealand
3D Printed Titanium Knives
• 3D Printed in titanium on
EOSM270 (now SLM280)
• gas nitride treated for
hardness
• Argon Ion Beam cleaned
• PVD coated
Design team: Victory knives, Page & Macrae and
Tida. 3D printing & Gas intruding : Tida. Blade
shape and grind: Victory knives. Ion beam clean &
pvd coating: Page & Macrae
Jewellery & Bling
3D Printed Robots
3D Printed Guitars…
3d Printed
Keyboard
3D Printed Drum Kit
Coming soon to a theatre near you…
Advantage: Encouraging Innovation
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The relatively low-cost ability to easily try out
ideas generates many innovations that would
just not have seen the light of day with
conventional manufacturing.
AM has seen children returning to making
things. Where, over the past 20 years, they
have slowly drifted into a digital entertainment
age, 3D printing is now allowing them to move
back from digital into reality.
Beauty and the beak
Innovative Applications
Miles Lightwood
3D Printed Car
Urbee by Kor EcoLogic, Printed by Stratasys
1/3 scale model printed on Voxeljet VX4000
Skyfall – Aston Martin DB5
3D Printed Car
3D printed DB4
Ivan Sentch, Printed on Solidoodle
Innovative use of power sources
Markus Kayser’s “Solar Sinter” 3D printer
Virginia tech’s 3D printing vending machine
The DreamVendor is an interactive 3D printing vending machine for Virginia Tech
students to enable them to quickly make prototypes for their academic, or personal,
design projects. Insert an SD card with the 3D model into the machine; the
DreamVendor then prints your 3D part and dispenses it into a bin when it's finished.
And, of course, it was only a matter of time…
The Justin Bieber
E-nable: community for low-cost prosthetics
e-nable hand, Volunteer organisation founded by Jon Schull,
www.enablingthefuture.org
Inspired by RoboHand work of Ivan Owen and Richard Van As in 2012,
www.robohand.net
Advantage: On-Demand Manufacturing
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Parts can be manufactured as, and when,
needed, rather than having to keep a large
stock of parts on-hand
Parts can be manufactured locally, rather
than abroad, thus greatly reducing the supply
chain, and the environmental footprint of the
parts
3D printing is often referred to as the next
industrial revolution
Supply Chain
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Yesterday
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Today
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Tomorrow
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The day after tomorrow???
(Misunderstood) Myth
Every home will have a 3D printer!
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Yes! Every home will have a 3D printer, but
these will be used for hobbies and toys.
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It is unlikely that 3D printers will every be
used in a home setting to manufacture
everything we need.
Many of us have sewing machines, but few
of us are wearing homemade clothes.
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Myth
Desktop 3D printers are like industrial ones!
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Myth
Most 3D printed products aren’t 3D printed!
The vast majority of ‘3D printed’ products only
use 3D printing for those features that get
advantage from the technologies. The rest of
the product is made using conventional
manufacturing technologies.
Designing for metal AM
The Truth about Metal AM
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Because of post-processing, a really good
reason is needed to make a metal AM part!
Typically, parts that are not specifically
designed for metal AM are not worth doing
with AM
Most metal AM requires support structures
for heat transfer and these, in most cases,
need to be machined off. This can be hard!
Part orientation is of critical importance with
metal AM
Rule 1: the part MUST be complex
A gas emissions rake developed using AM optmised design (Courtesy
RSC Engineering GmbH)
To use AM, parts need to be AM designed
Existing multi-part bracket to a single piece AM part (Airbus Defence and Space)
GE/Morris Technologies Leap jet fuel
nozzle
VBN Sweden: Hollow gear hobs offer high
abrasion resistance and reduced weight
Sometimes complexity is not geometric
These models of a cannular combustor have been manufactured to demonstrate
the possibility to include effusion holes and a swirler in the manufacturing
process (Courtesy Concept Laser GmbH)
Rule 2: Mesh structures are your friend
This model of a wing demonstrates AM’s ability to combine differently oriented
lightweight structures within one part. The model has been produced in one step
(Courtesy Concept Laser GmbH)
Rule 3: Always think of angles and supports
This cross section of an emission gas rake shows the angle limitation in the AM
process. (Courtesy RSC Engineering GmbH)
Rule 4: Part Orientation is Critical
Rule 5: Beware of gimmicks
Many fancy metal AM parts are made to demonstrate the
features of AM, but would not work as real components!
This example of a universal joint with
moveable parts (Courtesy Concept
Laser GmbH)
model engine prototype made in one step,
including rotating shaft. (Courtesy RSC
Engineering GmbH)
Future RP Technologies
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Printing houses
Prof. Behrockh Khoshnevis, University of Southern California
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Nano-Technology rapid prototyping Prof.
Satoshi Kawata, Japan, Koji Ikuta, Japan
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Bio-printing: Printing body parts
Prof. Anthony Atala, Wake Forrest University
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Food Printers
MIT Media Lab, Fluid Interfaces Group, Marcelo Coelho and
Amit Zoran
Printing Houses
www.contourcrafting.com University of Southern California
www.contourcrafting.com University of Southern California
Some recent developments in China
www.e-spaces.com
Nano-Printing
10µm
(1/10th of a hair)
S. Kawata, Japan
BioPrinting
CBS Evening News
Food Printers
MIT Media Lab
FabCafe in the Shibuya, Tokyo offers
custom-printed chocolate, that
resemble a customer’s face. It’s
done with 3D printing technology
“Eat Your Face Machine” (EYFM)
is a 3D printer developed by David
Carr and the MIT Media Lab
Some Trends
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Prices of machines are coming down
Prices for materials are coming down
CAD is improving (but still has a long way to go)
Some companies have realized that the printer
ink material pricing model will not work if AM is
to be used for rapid manufacturing
An awareness of mass-customisation is growing
= Products
= Services
Industry Growth
So what’s missing?
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The technology is around the corner.
What’s missing are the design tools that will
allow anyone, anywhere, to design what they
want, and to share that with the rest of the world.
Could this be the first time that hardware is
ahead of software?
Not a myth
3D Printing is Great!
Use it!!!