3D Printing

The 3D printing is the making of a real physical object from a digital model. This is achieved
using additive processes, where an object is created by applying one over other successive
layers of material. The process finishes when the entire object is created. Each of the layers
illustrates horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. This is the reason why 3D printing
is known as additive manufacturing (AM). The first step of the 3D printing is creating of a
digital model. This could be achieved via 3D Modeling program for the creation of a brand
new object or via 3D scanner for replicating an existing object. Next a 3D software generates
a file, which holds thousands of horizontal layers based on the created virtual model. This
file is than uploaded in a 3D printer which reads it slice by slice and creates the object. There
are different technologies for 3D printing. All of them use additive processes and
differentiate with each other in the way the layers are built to construct the desired object
or in the used materials. One of the competitors of the additive manufacturing from the
past, which is still used today, is the injection molding. This technology is still dominating for
mass production over the 3D printing, because of the tolerance precision, repeat-ability and
the large material selection. On the other hand 3D printing is preferred for home use,
because it could easily fit inside a small room. 3D printing is cheap for 1 time printed objects,
where injecting molding is cheap for mass production.