3D Printing An introduction to 3D Printing in schools and its benefits

What is 3D Printing? 3D Printing is a form of Additive Manufacturing or Rapid Prototyping. Its unique in its was by adding layer upon layer to build an object as apposed to subtractive manufacturing where the object is built by breaking down a component. Simular to blacksmiths or routing or drilling. 3D Printing uses a digitally drawn object in 3 Dimensions and slices the object into layers. It then adds these layer by layer to build the object. Fact: 3D Printing was first invented by Chuck Hull in 1984

What forms of 3D Printing are available? There are many forms of 3D Printing today. FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) The most common type of 3D Printing available today for consumers is FDM printing. Due to its low cost designs and affordability its made its way rapidly in the past 5 years into the market place. A close second would be the SLA and DLP printing thanks to some manufacturers such as Pirate3D and B9 Creator. This presentation will focus on FDM based printers. SLA (Stereo-lithography Printing) DLP (Digital Light Processing)

How does 3D Printing work? FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) works by layering a compounds often plastic on top of each other to form an object The process starts from a 3D File/Object (STL file) rendered in a software program capable of drawing 3D Objects. The Object is then broken up into layers using a slicing program the most simplest is Makerware. Once the object has been sliced and rendered into a bunch of robotic actions the printer gets to work and lays the plastic down layer by layer. One layer at a time the printer will lay the compound (plastic) down ontop of each other to build and object.

3D Printing Time-lapse Video This is a video of an actual 3D Printer in time-lapse. Leapfrog Creatr Printer.

What Dangers are involved Surrounding 3D Printing? Studies to date are not conclusive. However there are some key things I think its worth noting. -Operate your 3D Printer in an area that has up to 10 air changes a day. -Do not touch the hot end whilst in operation. -Always turn your machine off before attempting any maintenance or repairs. -Fumes expelled (Ultrafine Particles) from the printer although noticeable are no dangerous than the fumes we breath in daily. -The objects you create could be dangerous. These are not facts they are just an opinion. A full report can be downloaded from the following resource Download LinkDownload Link

What Materials Can you Print With? The materials we are going to mention here are just some of the many materials available to 3D Print with. In particular these materials focus on the FDM Printing method. - PLA - ABS - Laywoo-D3 - Bendlay - PVA - T-Glass Nylons (FDA Approved) - Conductive PLA, or Polylactic Acid, is a biodegradable plastic with a lot of features that make it great for 3D printing -- it doesn't give off fumes like ABS does, or warp nearly as much. It's also really shiny. PLA is harder than ABS, but more brittle, but that doesn't mean that it's easily breakable -- it's actually super strong -- just that when it does give, it's more likely to snap than bend. And it also stays flexible for a short while as it cools, which can be handy. And it doesn't warp and crack on larger objects the way ABS can. Basically, each is better for different kinds of things, and getting comfortable with PLA will give you choice and flexibility. ABS or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene - It's strength, flexibility, machinability, and higher temperature resistance make it often a preferred plastic for engineers, and professional applications. The hot plastic smell deter some as does the plastics petroleum based origin. The additional requirement of a heated print bed means there are some printers simply incapable of printing ABS with any reliability. Its also worth noting that Lego is made from this type of plastic. LAYWOO-D3 is a wood-based 3D printing filament by inventor Kai Parthy intended for the RepRap and (possibly) similar machines. It is 40% recycled wood with binding polymers for the remainder. 3D printing with wood is remarkable enough, but this filament has the ability to mimic wood grain by varying the temperature of the print head. A temperature of 180 degrees Celsius produces a light color and 245 degrees Celsius produces a darker color. After printing, the “wood” can be cut, ground, and painted. Bendlay - Clear like Polycarbonate Printing temperature: BendLay is very nice to print between 215° to 240°C While printing with high speed, best layer adhesion can be obtained at 240°C Thermal stable as PLA (65 – 70°C) BendLay is a modified ABS, and can be used in food-packaging and medical devices The water absorption is only 30% of the ABS No stress whitening by bending High interlayer adhesion Soluble in brake cleaner; acetone will make Bendlay crumble Polyvinyl Alcohol filament is used as a support material for PLA prints. It is water soluble. It will disolve faster in a heated agitated bath. Tglass – Taulman - Nylons Strength - First, as it’s a taulman3D industrial line, it has to be strong and we, along with our local testers and some selected industrial testers, are very pleased with the strength of t- glase. Especially with the larger nozzles used on industrial units. Temperature - Optimum temperature is about 212c to 224C, but will print down to 207C and up to about 235C. FDA approved – t-glase is specifically made of FDA approved polymers for direct food contact/containers. This includes cups and other liquid storage parts as well as utensils. Environmental - While t-glase is not biodegradable like PLA, it is a material that’s considered 100% reclaimable. Thus the new “struders” that convert failed prints back to usable line work perfectly with t-glase. If you have a “struder”, you can actually mix in 12% of the total weight in discarded clear water bottles. Clarity – like 645 nylon, t-glase’s clarity supports industry’s requirements for non-destructive evaluation of 3D Printed parts. Shrinkage - Very low shrinkage makes printing large flat surfaces a breeze. And it easily prints to acrylic, glass, Kapton and other platforms. Bridging - Those of us that have printed with acrylics and polycarbonates are always envious of their bridging capabilities due to glass temperature. And the new t-glase is very impressive at bridging. Fumes - Unlike some lines, there are no odors or fumes when 3D Printing with t-glase. Conductive ABS is a blend of ABS, carbon fiber, carbon black and permanent conductive masterbatch. Resulting in a flat black, with little shine. It can be used for antistatic, static dissipative, conduction of electric current and electromagnetic screening and interference shielding. The conductive antistatic ABS has excellent mechanical strength, impact resistance, dimensional stability, high flow creep resistance and excellent heat and low temperature resistance

What Software is Needed to use 3D Printers? There are two main software programs that you’ll require to be able to produce 3D printable files. The 3D Rendering/Drawing program 1.123D Autodesk Design 2.TinkerCAD 3.Any 3D CAD Program Capable of exporting or saving as STL Files The slicing program 1.Makerware 2.Replicator G.

In What Subjects or Curriculum areas can I use 3D Printers? Technology - Woodwork, Metal Work - Textiles Arts - Music - Graphics and Media Science - Chemistry, Physics Maths English LOTE Health & PE Humanities - History, Geography Economics - Accounting Printing in wood, protypes and tooling exercises First Printed Bikini – Fabric and Clothing Designs Printed Instruments Pinhole Camera Used to Capture the World in the old ways Molecule Visualisations and Modifications Printed Calculations of rotations, weight and mass Printing of Bones and Body Part Replacements Maps and Topography Fossil Re-Producing from Scans

3D Printing Info Graphic

Where to from here? The Next Slide Show (From Paper to Object) From the Idea a student has through to a physical object in their hands.