3D PRINTING is an emerging technology often compared to the Internet and computers in its ability to change the world. A 3D printer can create three dimensional objects by laying down thin, successive layers of plastic, metal or even live cells in the pattern specified by a computer-developed digital design. All one needs is a 3D printer, a filament (raw material such as plastic) and a digital design. (See ‘What is 3D printing?’)
The technology has grown enormously in the past couple of years, piggybacking on open source designs (licence-free resources). According to a March 2014 report by international market analysis company Canalys, the size of the market for 3D printers, associated materials and services will rise to $3.8 billion in 2014 and to $16.2 billion by 2018. This is a compound annual growth rate of 45.7 per cent from 2013 to 2018. The industry is expected to grow at a faster pace because many of the patents on the initial technologies are set to expire in 2014 and 2015.
It is likely that most of this growth is driven by the use of this technology in innovation. “All of us have ideas but we do not have access to technology. 3D printing allows innovators to make prototypes which they can show to investors,” says Vijay Varada, CEO and director of Fracktal Works Pvt Ltd, a start-up launched by the Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka. The technology cuts down the time taken from conceiving an idea to developing a prototype. Changes in prototype designs, too, can be made in hours. “Everyone, be it architects, hobbyists, doctors, jewellers, engineering students, automotive industry or researchers, will end up using it,” says Vishesh Shishodia, co-founder of 3DPrintronics, a 3D printing service provider based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. While most users in India depend on open source technologies, the market has become viable for international players too. Zalak Shah, research analyst with Gartner Inc, one of the world’s leading information technology research and advisory companies, says that in the past 12 months, major companies like MakerBot and Stratasys have entered the market. Printers made by such companies cost over `10 lakh while do-it-yourself-kits based on open source technologies cost between `60,000 and `90,000.
Saving the environment
The technology is not only about profits. Experts point out its potential in saving the environment. “3D printers allow fabrication of complex geometries with no waste,” say Joshua Pearce, associate professor at the Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology Lab, Michigan Technological University, US. You can make a mostly hollow object with just the right structural support, he explains. One can make products at home and avoid transportation and packaging. His team did an economic study where they chose 20 common household objects and showed that printing them with existing open source designs could result in savings between $300 and $2,000. “People will do this to save money and the environmental benefits are a bonus,” says Pearce. The analysis has been published in the July 2013 issue of Mechatronics.
Pearce’s group has also shown that recycled plastic, such as discarded milk containers can be used for printing. The team developed an open-source RecycleBot which turns waste plastic into 3D printer filament. While normal plastic filament costs $35/kg or more, the recycled filament is just around $0.10/kg. Pearce calls them “fair trade filament”.
The recycling process uses about 1/10th the energy needed to acquire commercial 3D filament. Details of the research are available in the March 2013 issue of Rapid Prototyping. “I think this holds a lot of promise for developing countries to leap frog the entire industrial revolution and go straight to commons based-distributed manufacturing of open source appropriate technologies,” says Pearce. As to whether the technology will help save the environment, Shishodia says that it is difficult to assess because very few studies exist on the subject. But it will not harm the environment, he says.
Manufacturing filament
In India, fair trade filaments are already being made. ProtoPrint is a Pune-based social enterprise that works with urban waste pickers by providing them the technology to convert waste plastic into 3D printer filament. It is also collaborating with SWaCH, a waste picker cooperative. “Each waste picker collects roughly five kg of plastic per day. ProtoPrint provides them the opportunity to earn over 15 times more for the same amount of plastic,” says Suchismita Pai, spokesperson for the company.
ProtoPrint is running a pilot project called Filament Lab. This unit can produce 40-50 kg of filament daily. The company is targeting the global filament market. The filament is currently produced in five colours and ProtoPrint is testing the filament on a number of commercial printers. The company is looking to make filaments commercially available from mid-2014. ProtoPrint is the first certified partner of Ethical Filament Foundation, an initiative launched by techfortrade, a UK-based charity, and Dreambox Emergence, a company which provides 3D printing units for community-based 3D manufacturing in Guatemala and in Michigan Technological University.
Government apathy
Experts are of the view that support from the government in essential for the technology to achieve its potential. Shishodia says that in countries like China and UK, the governments have set up special industrial zones to cater to the 3D printing industry. In India, the government is yet to even set down any quality standards for the printers, filaments or the products. Central Tool Room under the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises does provide assistance to the 3D printing sector, but experts say that more needs to be done. L Jyothish Kumar, president of the Additive Manufacturing Society of India says that they are in talk with the government to garner support for the sector.
| WHAT IS 3D PRINTING?
The first working 3D printer was created in 1984 by Charles W Hull, co-founder of 3D Systems, a US-based company which is still one of the biggest makers of 3D printers in the world. But it is the open source printer technology that made 3D printing popular. One such project, RepRapÔÇê(short for replicating rapidÔÇêprototype) was started in 2005 by Adrian Bowyer, lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath, UK. |
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RepRapÔÇêcan print in any type of material using designs released under a free software licence. It can print its own components too. The first official 3D printing machineÔÇêunder the project was released in March 2007 and has brought downÔÇêthe price of printers sharply. Easy access to 3D printing forums like Shapeways, Thingiverse and Threeding, which provide digital models,ÔÇêhasÔÇêmadeÔÇêtheÔÇêtechnologyÔÇêavailable to the masses. Some analysts fear thatÔÇêthe technology could lead to losses for manufacturing companies and end the era of licences and copyrights. But Zalak Shah of Gartner Inc says that 3D printing is not likely to replace traditional manufacturing. It would be complementary to it. For example, in March 2014, General Electric announced its plan to to build the world’s first passenger jet engine with 3D printed fuel nozzles. This engine is likely to be in service in 2016 and the company already has orders worth $78 billion. |
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What could be done by 3d printers Metal Printing |
Early this year, BAE Systems, a defence company in the US, used 3D printed metal parts in its RAF Tornado fighter. The possibilities of metal printing are enormous and with the low-cost 3D printer developed by Michigan Technological University’s Joshua Pearce and his team, the technology is now accessible to the masses, too. The printer is built using $1,500 worth of material, much less than commercial metal printers which cost over half a million dollars |
3D printing has also led to a security threat. In 2012, Cody Wilson, an American national, made a plastic gun using a 3D printer. This made the US Senate extendÔÇêthe Undetectable Firearms Act, which bans sale or possession of firearms undetectable by X-ray machines or metal detectors, forÔÇê10 years. The law now requires such guns to have a metal strip to make them visible to metal detectors |
Food printers are time-saving devices that could becomeÔÇêas ubiquitous in kitchensÔÇêas the microwave oven. ÔÇêOne such printerÔÇêis Foodini whichÔÇêcan print individual ravioli instead of the cook having to knead the dough and fill and assemble each piece. The printer is at the prototype stage and differs from other food printersÔÇêas it does not work only on pre-filled food capsules. |