3D printing is used extensively in the engineering industry.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India's first 3D-printed post office building in Bengaluru on Friday. The post office building at the Cambridge Layout will be functional following the inauguration.
Its construction was carried out by Larsen & Toubro Limited. It took 45 days to complete the project. Notably, IIT Madras provided its technical guidance to achieve the goal.
What is 3D printing?
3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process which converts a digital file into three-dimensional solid objects. In this additive process, you don't require a block of material or manufacture physical objects.
The object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the final product is not created. Each of these layers is a thinly sliced cross-section of the object.
This technology allows printing structures layer-by-layer like bridges in metal, concrete, or polymer. You can also create entire buildings in concrete or clay on-site. Construction 3D printers offer innovative solutions for printing entire buildings or some components.
3D printing assists in producing complex shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods. The list of materials you can use for 3D printing is ever-expanding.
This process is typically fast. It has low fixed setup costs. 3D printing is used extensively in the engineering industry, mainly for creating prototypes and lightweight geometries.
When was 3D printing invented?
3D printing is not a recent finding. Though there were a few patents beforehand, USA's Chuck Hull, the co-founder, executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, is typically credited with the invention of the 3D printer via the Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA). Patented in 1984, it was the first commercial rapid prototyping technology.
3D printing came into the picture as an idea to accelerate industrial product development by creating faster prototypes.