3D PRINTING

A
Dissertation
submitted
in partial fulfillment
for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Technology
In Department of Mechanical Engineering

Supervisor Submitted By:

Mr. B. Meghashyam Raju Prashant Sharma
Assistant Professor 16EEBME042

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Engineering College Bikaner
Rajasthan Technical University
APRIL 2020

i
 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the work, which is being presented in the Dissertation, entitled " 3D
Printing"in partial fulfillment for the award of Degree of “Bachelor of Technology” in
Deptt. Mechanical Engineering and submitted to the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Engineering College Bikaner, Rajasthan Technical University is record of
my own Investigations carried under the Guidance of Mr. B. Meghashyam Raju,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering College Bikaner.

I have not submitted the matter presented in this Dissertation anywhere for the award of
any other degree.
Prashant Sharma
16EEBME042
……………………………
Supervisor
Mr. B. Meghashyam Raju
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With immense please I, Mr Prashant Sharma, presenting " 3D Printing" seminar report as
part of the curriculum of ' B.Tech ' I wish to thank all the people who gave me unending
support.
I express my profound thanks to Seminar Guide Mr. B. Meghashyam Raju And all those
who have indirectly guided and helped me in preparation of this seminar.

.......................................
Prashant Sharma

iii
 Abstract

3D printing technology is a boon for humans. It is the process by which you can form any
solid shape from a digital model. Doesn't it sound interesting? In this technique you can
remove the unwanted material by cutting or drilling. There are many printers which use
digital technology to do 3D printing processes. The sales of these machines have grown
with the time. Chuck Hull of the 3D system Corp, Inc made the first 3D printer. What are
the applications of 3D printing technology? Initially, manufacturing companies used this
technology. With the introduction of 3D printing technology, you can go for mass
production.

You can increase the production with less capital as they will be controlled by the same
controller. Medical science is also taking the help of this technique. It makes some
treatment simple and accessible to the patients. There are many companies that offer 3D
services to consumers. They need to upload their design in the website and your design
will be ready within a few hours. Just imagine you can print a solid object from a device
connected to the computer. It sounds like the world of star trek. It is like a dream come
true.

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 Table of Contents

S. No. Content Page No.

1 Introduction to 3D Printing 1-2

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 History 1-2

2 General Principles 3-7

2.1 Modeling 3
2.2 Printing 4-5
2.3 Finishing 6
2.4 Material 6

3 Methods of 3D Printing 8-17

3.1 Selective laser sintering (SLS) 8-9
3.2 Stereolithography (SLA) 9-10
3.3 Polyjet or Jetted Photopolymer (J-P) 11-12
3.4 Fused deposition modeling 13-14
3.5 Laser Powder Forming 14-15
3.6 Laminated object manufacturing 16-17

4 Printers 18-20
4.1 Industrial Use 18
4.2 Costumer Use 18-19
4.3 Large 3D Printers 19-20

5 Future Of 3D Printing 21

6 Conclusion 22

7 References 23

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 Table Of Figures

S.No Figure Page no.

1.1 A three dimensional printer 2

2.1 Modeling via using CAD Software 3
2.2 A small level 3D Printer Printing Process 5
2.3 3D photo booth 6
2.4 Finishing by Sanding 7
3.1 Selective Laser Sintering Process 8
3.2 Product Made By SLS Process 9
3.3 Stereolithography Process 10
3.4 Product Made By the SLA Process 10
3.5 Polyjet Process 11
3.6 Product Made by Photopolymers 3D printing 12
3.7 Fused Deposition 13
3.8 A product Printed by FFF/FDM Process 14
3.9 Cladding Process 15
3.10 Example of laser powder forming 16
3.11 Laminated object manufacturing Process 17
3.12 Product Example of LOM Process 17

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 Chapter 1

Introduction To 3D Printing

1.1 Introduction
3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid
objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive
processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of
material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly
sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. Actually, The term "3D printing"
covers a variety of processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer
control to create a three-dimensional object.
In the 1990s, 3D-printing techniques were considered suitable only for the production of
functional or aesthetic prototypes and a more appropriate term for it was rapid
prototyping. As of 2019, the precision, repeatability, and material range have increased to
the point that some 3D-printing processes are considered viable as an industrial-
production technology, whereby the term additive manufacturing can be used
synonymously with "3D printing". One of the key advantages of 3D printing is the ability
to produce very complex shapes or geometries, including hollow parts or parts with
internal truss structures to reduce weight, and a prerequisite for producing any 3D printed
part is a digital 3D model or a CAD file by using the 3D Modelling Software like Solid
Works, Catia etc. and some scanning software too.

1.2 History

In 1974, David E. H. Jones laid out the concept of 3D printing. Early additive
manufacturing equipment and materials were developed in the 1980s. In 1981, Hideo
Kodama of Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute invented two additive
methods for fabricating three-dimensional plastic models with photo-hardening thermoset
polymer, where the UV exposure area is controlled by a mask pattern or a scanning fibre
transmitter.
On July 2, 1984, American entrepreneur Bill Masters filed a patent for his Computer
Automated Manufacturing Process and System. This filing is on record at the USPTO as
the first 3D printing patent in history; it was the first of three patents belonging to
Masters that laid the foundation for the 3D printing systems used today. Three weeks
later in 1984, Chuck Hull of 3D Systems Corporation filed his own patent for
a stereolithography fabrication system, in which layers are added by
curing photopolymers with ultraviolet light lasers. Hull defined the process as a "system
for generating three-dimensional objects by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the
object to be formed," Hull's contribution was the STL (Stereolithography) file format and
the digital slicing and infill strategies common to many processes today. In 1986, Charles

1
"Chuck" Hull was granted a patent for his system, and his company, 3D Systems
Corporation released the first commercial 3D printer, the SLA-1.
The technology used by most 3D printers to date, especially hobbyist and consumer-
oriented models-is fused deposition modelling, a special application of plastic extrusion,
developed in 1988 by S. Scott Crump and commercialized by his company Stratasys,
which marketed its first FDM machine in 1992.
The term 3D printing originally referred to a powder bed process employing standard and
custom inkjet print heads, developed at MIT by Emanuel Sachs in 1993 and
commercialized by Soligen Technologies, Extrude Hone Corporation, and Z Corporation.
Then In 1995 the Fraunhofer Society developed the selective laser melting process.
The 2010s were the first decade in which metal end use parts such as engine
brackets and large nuts would be grown (either before or instead of machining) in job
production rather than obligatory being machined from bar stock or plate. In 2012,
Filabot developed a system for closing the loop with plastic and allows for any FDM
(Fused Deposition Modeling) or FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication)3D printer to be able
to print with a wider range of plastics.
In 2014, Benjamin S. Cook and Manos M. Tentzeris demonstrate the first multi-material,
vertically integrated printed electronics additive manufacturing platform (VIPRE) which
enabled 3D printing of functional electronics operating up to 40 GHz.

figure 1.1 A three dimensional printer

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 Chapter:- 2

General Principles

2.1 Modeling

3D printable models may be created with a computer aided design (CAD) package or via
a 3D scanner or via a plain digital camera and photogrammetry software. Software like
Solid Works , Catia, etc. can be used for modeling.
The manual modeling process of preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is
similar to plastic arts such as sculpting. 3D scanning is a process of analysing and
collecting digital data on the shape and appearance of a real object. Based on this data,
three-dimensional models of the scanned object can then be produced.
By drawing a three-dimensional view on CAD or "animation modeling software" and
slice it into "digital cross sections", which are accepted by machine and successively used
as an instruction in printing. According to the types of the machine, material is deposited
on the platform until "material layering" is finished and the object is printed.
Standard Tessellation Language (SLT) file format is a standard date interface connected
CAD and the printer. It translates CAD files into a language understood by machines.
“An STL file approximates the shape of part or assembly using triangular facets.” i.e. the
3D model (often in .skp, .dae, .3ds or some other format) then needs to be converted to
either a.STL or a .OBJ format, to allow the printing (a.k.a. "CAM") software to be able to
read it.

fig. 2.1:- Modeling via using CAD Software

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STL is not tailored for additive manufacturing because it generates large file sizes of
topology optimized parts and lattice structures due to the large number of surfaces
involved. A newer CAD file format, the Additive Manufacturing File format (AMF) was
introduced in 2011 to solve this problem. It stores information using curved
triangulations.

2.2 Printing

Before printing a 3D model from an STL file, it must first be examined for "manifold
errors", this step being called the "fixup". Most CAD applications produce errors in
output STL files, of the following types:

1. holes;
2. faces normals;
3. self-intersections;
4. noise shells;
5. manifold errors.

Examples of software that can be used to fix these errors are netfabb and Meshmixer, or
even Cura, or Slic3r.
Once that's done, the .STL file needs to be processed by a piece of software called a
"slicer" which converts the model into a series of thin layers and produces a G-code file
containing instructions tailored to a specific type of 3D printer (FDM printers). This G-
code file can then be printed with 3D printing client software (which loads the G-code,
and uses it to instruct the 3D printer during the 3D printing process). It should be noted
here that often, the client software and the slicer are combined into one software program
in practice. Several open source slicer programs exist, including Skeinforge, Slic3r, and
Cura as well as closed source programs including Simplify3D and KISSlicer. Examples
of 3D printing clients include Repetier-Host, ReplicatorG, Printrun/Pronterface, etc. Note
that there is one other piece of software that is often used by people using 3D printing,
namely a GCode viewer. This software lets one examine the route of travel of the printer
nozzle. By examining this, the user can decide to modify the GCode to print the model a
different way (for example in a different position, e.g. standing versus lying down) so as
to save plastic (depending on the position and nozzle travel, more or less support material
may be needed). Examples of GCode viewers are Gcode Viewer for Blender and
Pleasant3D.
“Printer resolution describes layer thickness and X-Y resolution in dpi (dots per inch), or
micrometers.” Typical thickness of a layer is approximately 100 micrometers (0.1 mm)
while 3D Systems ProJet series is capable of printing 16 micrometers layer. “X-Y
resolution is comparable to that of laser printers". The diameter of particles is between 50
and 100 micrometer. For that printer resolution, specifying a mesh resolution of 0.01–
0.03 mm and a chord length ≤ 0.016 mm generate an optimal STL output file for a given
model input file. Specifying higher resolution results in larger files without increase in
print quality.

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Construction of a model with contemporary methods can take anywhere from several
hours to several days, depending on the method used and the size and complexity of the
model. Additive systems can typically reduce this time to a few hours, although it varies
widely depending on the type of machine used and the size and number of models being
produced simultaneously.
As shown in figure 2.3 photos taken in 2D in the 3D photo booth can be printed in 3D.
This booth gives the input to the 3D printer by the sets of 2D pictures taken from
different angle views in the 3D photo booth in .stl format too. But this technology can be
used for copying any product, which is designed and manufactured before. No new
design can be generated from the following 3D booth.

fig. 2.2 A small level 3D Printer Printing Process

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 fig. 2.3 3D photo booth (3D models can be generated from 2D pictures taken at a 3D
photo booth.)

2.3 Finishing

Though the printer-produced resolution is sufficient for many applications, printing a

slightly oversized version of the desired object in standard resolution and then removing
material with a higher-resolution subtractive process can achieve greater precision.
Some printable polymers allow the surface finish to be smoothed and improved using
chemical vapour processes.
Some additive manufacturing techniques are capable of using multiple materials in the
course of constructing parts. These techniques are able to print in multiple colors and
color combinations simultaneously, and would not necessarily require painting.
Some printing techniques require internal supports to be built for overhanging features
during construction. These supports must be mechanically removed or dissolved upon
completion of the print.

6
All of the commercialized metal 3-D printers involve cutting the metal component off of
the metal substrate after deposition. A new process for the GMAW 3-D printing allows
for substrate surface modifications to remove aluminium components manually with a
hammer.

Fig. 2.4 :- Finishing by Sanding

2.4 Materials

Traditionally, 3D printing focused on polymers for printing, due to the ease of

manufacturing and handling polymeric materials. However, the method has rapidly
evolved to not only print various polymers but also metals and ceramics, making 3D
printing a versatile option for manufacturing.

7
 Chapter:- 3

Methods Of 3D Printing
There are a few different methods of 3d printing, of which the pro's and con's for
instrument making are explained.

3.1 Selective laser sintering (SLS)

 Description

This method uses a high powered laser to melt powder together. When set up carefully,
this can create an almost perfectly uniform material of nearly injection mold quality. This
make for very durable products. This is very interesting for musical instruments, as this
allows us to create objects with the same materials as conventional instruments, but with
the ease of printing instead of manual labor. The method is relatively simple, due to
inherent supports it avoids additional step in between the 3d model and printing. The
surface quality is fair, but not as detailed as other techniques.

fig. 3.1 Selective Laser Sintering Process

 Materials

Plastics, Elastomers, Metal, Ceramics, Glass

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  Product Example

Fig. 3.2 Product Made By SLS Process

3.2 Stereolithography (SLA)

 Description

A layer of fluid resin is hardened by UV or laser. It makes for great surface quality and
build accuracy. Useful, as this removes the need for post-finishing. But the products
remain brittle, which disqualifies this method for musical instruments, because an
instrument which could break during performance, is no use at all.

9
 Fig 3.3 Stereolithography Process

 Materials

Epoxy polymers, both rigid or flexible

 Product Example

fig. 3.4:-Product Made By the SLA Process

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3.3 Polyjet or Jetted Photopolymer (J-P)

 Description

Photopolymer jetting machines utilize inkjet print heads to jet a liquid photopolymer
which is immediately cured by a UV lamp. By adding layer on layer, the part is built.
Several materials can be jetted at the same time. Photopolymer jetting requires support
structures for overhangs, which is usually built in a different material.
Multiple materials can be jetted together allowing multi-material and multi-color parts.
Functionally graded materials are possible. However, the technology does not work with
standard materials but with UV-active photopolymers which are not durable over time.

Fig. 3.5:- Polyjet Process

 Materials

Photopolymers, both solid as rubber-like.

 Product Example

Photopolymer Process is Usually used in making soft products, when the product we
need to be much plastic. The rubber like Productions are done by the photopolymer type
3D printing.

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 fig. 3.6:-Product Made by Photopolymers 3D printing

3.4 Fused deposition modeling/fused filament fabrication (FDM/FFF)

 Description

The most seen 3d printing method, as most inexpensive machines use this method.
(Usually) A plastic wire is molten and laid down in layers. Inherently unsolid material,
always has air-spaces and fuse lines. In default setting this provides a material which is
not interesting for musical instruments, but with a careful setup, the air spaces could be
tuned, so it could resonate in a controlled fashion.
A big advantage is that is method is used in the cheapest and most common 3d printers.
This is also the method that seems to make most promise for cheap home printers.
A fused deposition modeling machine melts a plastic filament and extrudes it through a
nozzle. The melted material is laid down on the build platform, where it cools and
solidifies. By laying down layer on layer the part is built. Fused deposition modeling
requires support structures which anchors the parts on the build platform and supports
overhanging structures. Through the use of a second nozzle, the support structure can be
built in a different material. Several parts can be produced at the same time as long as
they are all anchored on the platform.

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 Fig. 3.7:- Fused Deposition Modeling

 Materials

ABS, PC, concrete, chocolate, icing and other food.

 Product Example
Too much typical shapes are capable to be produced by FDM/FFF Process, as it can be
used as the domestic printing tool too. A typical Product Example is shown below By the
FFF/FDM process.

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 fig. 3.8:-A product Printed by FFF/FDM Process

Usually Machine Named "RipRap" uses this Technique.

3.5 Cladding or Laser Powder Forming or Laser Fusing

 Description
Instead of feeding the printing head a solid core of material, a powder is fed. This
provides a more accurate method. It creates a full density product without porosity or
weld-lines. A method for making very detailed and small parts. This method seem perfect
for 3d printing replica's of mouthpieces. The biggest disadvantage is that this is one of the
most expensive 3d printing methods.

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 Fig. 3.9 :- Cladding Process

 Materials
Metal, Ceramic, Polymer

 Product Example
Typical Products made in mechanical Stream Can be made by using the method laser
powder forming, as it gives most accurate results, as it is expensive process that's why it
is used for mass production usually. An example, the product produces by this process is
shown below.

15
 fig 3.10:- Example of laser powder forming

4.6 Laminated object manufacturing or LOM

 Description
Sheets of raw material are laid on each other, after which it will be cut out by laser or
knife. Objects can get wood-like properties, by simulating year ring.
During the LOM process, layers of plastic or paper are fused — or laminated — together
using heat and pressure, and then cut into the desired shape with a computer-controlled
laser or blade.

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 Fig. 3.11 :- Laminated object manufacturing Process

 Materials
Paper, Plastic or Metals.

 Product Example

fig. 3.12 Product Example of LOM Process

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 Chapter:- 4

Printers
Firstly we will talk about the use of 3D Printers for the Industrial as well as Costumer
Domestic uses.

4.1 Industrial Use

The global 3D printing market size was valued at USD 11.58 billion in 2019 and is
expected to expand at a CAGR exceeding 14% from 2020 to 2027. Globally, 1.42 million
units of 3D printers were shipped in 2018 and this number is expected to reach 8.04
million units by 2027. The aggressive R&D in Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) and
growing demand for prototyping applications from various industry verticals, particularly
healthcare, automotive, and aerospace and defence, are the factors expected to drive the
market growth.
Based on printer types, the 3D printing market has been segmented into industrial and
desktop 3D printers. The industrial printers segment accounted for the largest market
share of 77% in 2019 and is anticipated to continue its dominance over the forecast
period. Both desktop as well as industrial 3-dimensional printer segment are further
divided into hardware, software, and services. The higher share of the industrial printer
segment can be attributed to the extensive adoption in heavy industries, such as
automotive, electronics, aerospace and defence, and healthcare. Prototyping, designing,
and tooling are some of the most common industrial applications of the product type.
Extensive adoption of 3D printing for prototyping, designing, and tooling are
contributing to the growing demand from the industrial sector. This factor is projected to
fuel the growth of the industrial segment in near future.

4.2 Costumer Use

Several projects and companies are making efforts to develop affordable 3D printers for
home desktop use. Much of this work has been driven by and targeted at
DIY/enthusiast/early adopter communities, with additional ties to the academic and
hacker communities.
RepRap is one of the longest running projects in the desktop category. The RepRap
project aims to produce a free and open source hardware (FOSH) 3D printer, whose full
specifications are released under the GNU General Public License, and which is capable
of replicating itself by printing many of its own (plastic) parts to create more machines.
RepRaps have already been shown to be able to print circuit boardsand metal parts.
Because of the FOSH aims of RepRap, many related projects have used their design for
inspiration, creating an ecosystem of related or derivative 3D printers, most of which are
also open source designs. The availability of these open source designs means that
variants of 3D printers are easy to invent. The quality and complexity of printer designs,

18
however, as well as the quality of kit or finished products, varies greatly from project to
project. This rapid development of open source 3D printers is gaining interest in many
spheres as it enables hyper-customization and the use of public domain designs to
fabricate open source appropriate technology. This technology can also assist initiatives
in sustainable development since technologies are easily and economically made from
resources available to local communities.
The cost of 3D printers has decreased dramatically since about 2010, with machines that
used to cost $20,000 now costing less than $1,000 For instance, as of 2013, several
companies and individuals are selling parts to build various RepRap designs, with prices
starting at about €400 / US$500. The open source Fab@Home project has developed
printers for general use with anything that can be squirted through a nozzle, from
chocolate to silicone sealant and chemical reactants. Printers following the project's
designs have been available from suppliers in kits or in pre-assembled form since 2012 at
prices in the US$2000 range. The Kick-starter funded Peachy Printer is designed to cost
$100 and several other new 3D printers are aimed at the small, inexpensive market
including the mUVe3D and Lumifold. Rapide 3D has designed a professional grade
crowdsourced 3D-printer costing $1499 which has no fumes nor constant rattle during
use. The 3Doodler, "3D printing pen", raised $2.3 million on Kick-starter with the pens
selling at $99, though the 3D Doodler has been criticised for being more of a crafting pen
than a 3D printer.

4.3 Large 3D Printers

Large 3D printers have been developed for industrial, education, and demonstrative uses.
A large delta-style 3D printer was built in 2014 by SeeMeCNC. The printer is capable of
making an object with diameter of up to 4 feet (1.2 m) and up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in height.
It also uses plastic pellets as the raw material instead of the typical plastic filaments used
in other 3D printers.
Another type of large printer is Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM). The goal is
to develop printers that can produce a large object in high speed. A BAAM machine of
Cincinnati Incorporated can produce an object at the speeds 200-500 times faster than
typical 3D printers available in 2014. Another BAAM machine is being developed by
Lockheed Martin with an aim to print long objects of up to 100 feet (30 m) to be used in
aerospace industries.
ExOne, the first manufacturer of metal binder jetting systems, now has to compete with a
number of newcomers like Digital Metal, Desktop Metal and HP.
Desktop Metal and HP, in particular, have an aggressive strategy in making binder jetting
a method that can compete with traditional manufacturing for certain applications. To
achieve this, Desktop Metal, for example, has developed a bi-directional system (prints in
two directions), which enables high-resolution printing at up to 12,000 cm3/hr. This
translates into over 60 kg of metal parts per hour.
While PBF and metal binder jetting systems are designed to meet production needs,
another sector of compact metal 3D printers is rising to make prototyping of metal parts
cheaper and easier.

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 Fig. 4.1:- Large Scale 3D Printing

Fig. 4.2 :- Large Delta Style 3D Printer

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 Chapter:- 5

Future of 3D Printing

It is predicted by some additive manufacturing advocates that this technological

development will change the nature of commerce, because end users will be able to do
much of their own manufacturing rather than engaging in trade to buy products from
other people and corporations.
3D printers capable of outputting in colour and multiple materials already exist and will
continue to improve to a point where functional products will be able to be output. With
effects on energy use, waste reduction, customization, product availability, medicine, art,
construction and sciences, 3D printing will change the manufacturing world as we know
it.
In the future, its anticipated that all metal 3D printers will be equipped with the closed-
loop control system, which will significantly increase process repeatability, by reducing
the risk of build failures.
A recent report from SmarTech Analysis predicts that the sales of compact industrial
metal printers will top $1 billion by 2027.
All in all, the demand for more sophisticated industrial-grade systems will continue to
fuel the evolution of the AM hardware. In the next five years, we expect 3D printing
hardware to reach much greater reliability, thanks to in-process monitoring solutions and
tighter integration with software.
As Shown in figure how the Manufacturing of 3D printing increasing Exponentially from
previous decade, it shows that next decade will have huger impact on the market by 3D
printing.

Fig. 5.1 Increment in the manufacturers of 3D Printers

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 Chapter:- 6

Conclusion

3D Printing technology could revolutionize and re-shape the world. Advances in 3D

printing technology can significantly change and improve the way we manufacture
products and produce goods worldwide. An object is scanned or designed with Computer
Aided Design software, then sliced up into thin layers, which can then be printed out to
form a solid three-dimensional product. As previously described, the importance of an
invention can be appraised by determining which of the human needs it fulfils.
As shown, 3D printing can have an application in almost all of the categories of human
needs as described by Maslow. While it may not fill an empty unloved heart, it will
provide companies and individuals fast and easy manufacturing in any size or scale
limited only by their imagination. One of the main advantages of the industrialization
revolution was that parts could be made nearly identically which meant they could be
easily replaced without individual tailoring.
3D printing, on the other hand, can enable fast, reliable, and repeatable means of
producing tailor-made products which can still be made inexpensively due to automation
of processes and distribution of manufacturing needs. If the last industrial revolution
brought us mass production and the advent of economies of scale - the digital 3D printing
revolution could bring mass manufacturing back a full circle - to an era of mass
personalization, and a return to individual craftsmanship.

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 Chapter:- 7

References

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing#Multi-material_3D_printing
 https://amfg.ai/2019/10/22/how-the-3d-printing-hardware-market-is-evolving-in-
2019/
 www.additively.com
 https://liujing-3dprinting.weebly.com/principles.html
 studymafia.org
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736585316303963

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