3D Printing

How does 3D printing work?

One additive manufacturing method is 3D printing. It is "additive" in that it simply stacks and fused layers of material to create actual objects instead of needing a block of material or a mold. It can build more complicated geometries than "conventional" technologies, is often quick, has cheap fixed setup costs, and works with an ever-growing range of materials. The engineering sector makes substantial use of it, especially when prototyping and developing lightweight geometries.

additive manufacturing and 3D printing

The term "3D printing" is frequently linked to maker culture, amateurs and enthusiasts, desktop printers, accessible printing techniques like FDM, and inexpensive materials like ABS and PLA. This is partly due to the affordable desktop printers that emerged from the RepRap movement, such as the original MakerBot and Ultimaker, which contributed to the democratization of 3D printing and the 2009 3D printing boom.