When a house gets constructed in a day or two, a cancer survivor who lost part of his face to radiation therapy can get prosthetic face which is an exact replica of his real face. When a scientist claims that he has developed Veg Steaks which looks like a juicy piece of Meat except that it is made from peas and seaweed, we scratch our brains in disbelief. When Lady Gaga or Deepika Padukone strut futuristic dresses at the Met Gala, which look impossible to cut and stitch and put together, the whole world is mesmerized. What is it that’s common in such diverse field as fashion and housing, food and prosthetics? The answer is 3D printing.

What is 3D printing?

Technically a standard definition for 3D printing would be “building a three-dimensional object designed and modelled using a Computer aided design software by successively adding material layer by layer”.
When David Jones laid out the concept of 3D printing in 1970. Initially 3d printing focused on using polymers for printing but things rapidly evolved and metals, ceramics, concrete were used. Now everyone is finding out a way to use this technology in their field and make things earlier deemed impossible a reality.
A market study claims the global 3D printing market size was USD 12.0 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 52.0 billion by 2026. Factors such as ease in development of customized products, reduction in manufacturing cost and process downtime, government investments in 3D printing projects, and development of new industrial-grade 3D printing materials are driving the growth of the 3D printing industry.

Some of the fields that has already started 3D printing are as listed below:

1. Aerospace and Defence

The aerospace and defence industry is one of the earliest adopters of 3D printing, with the first use of this technology going back to 1989.
When highly complex parts are produced in low volumes, 3D printing is an ideal solution. Also 3D printed parts being lightweight, result in considerable fuel savings. 3D printing, particularly with metals, is increasingly being used in the manufacture of rockets. The technology is enabling engineers to innovate the design of rocket parts and manufacture them in a shorter time frame.
Military agencies like Royal Netherlands Air Force, United States, the Hill Air Force, Royal Air Force, Israeli Air Force base is using 3D printed parts in repair of fighter jets.

Current defence applications range from complex brackets and small surveillance drones, to jet engine components and submarine hulls.
In Aviation, GE Aviation created a helicopter engine with 16 parts instead of 900, with great potential impact on reducing the complexity of supply chains. So was the case with Airbus who announced that its new Airbus included over 1000 components manufactured by 3D printing.

2. Automotive

The automotive industry is also an early user of 3D printing. Though dispute exists between Urbee and Strati as the first car to be 3D printed, but one is Hybrid and the other is electric. 3D printing enables designers to make quick design changes and modifications in a fraction of the time that are still lightweight and durable.

However many car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Koenigsegg, Strati use 3D printing to print tooling, fixtures, parts of Chassis etc.
Many car companies like Porsche plans the use of 3D printing to produce spare parts for its rare and classic cars which are difficult to procure.

3. Medical Prosthetics

3D printing has extensive role in the medical sector to produce a range of medical items, prosthetics, spares and repairs. Prosthetics is where 3D printing is being used extensively to print limbs. Bionic arms and legs printed using 3D printer are breakthrough.
3D printing also playing a major role in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The usage amongst cancer survivors has been successfully tried and tested. 3D-printed haptic bio models can potentially play a significant role in preoperative planning, intraoperative guidance, training and teaching, and fashioning patient-specific prosthesis.

What is even more astonishing is 3D printing organs. Called as bioprinters, these machines use human cells as “ink.” A standard 3-D printer layers plastic to create car parts or trinkets, but a bioprinter layers cells to form three-dimensional tissues and organs. Wake Forest University’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine has advanced on this research. They hope to soon be able to implant printed organs after successfully 3D printing tissue using cell ink

Dentistry – In Dentistry, 3D printing has made creating crowns incredibly simple. The doctor scans the broken tooth and then uses software to create the model of the crown. They can create it in their office in less than 30 minutes using either a type of resin or some special porcelain.

Medical equipment –3D printing is an ideal technology for creating or optimising designs for medical devices. Thanks to low-cost rapid prototyping, medical device manufacturers have greater freedom in designing new products, helping to bring new medical devices to the market much faster.
For example, when Italy saw a sudden surge in Covid-19 patients in the earlier phases, Italian 3D printing start-up Isinnova has saved the lives of few Covid-19 patients after developing a replacement ventilator valve that was an exact replica of the ventilator valve being used when the supplies at Chiari hospital in Brescia ran dry of this unit.

Pharmaceutical field – 3D printing is also being used in Pharma. The idea is to take this technology to hospitals and pharmacies in order to provide on demand production of personalized formulations according to the patients’ needs.

4. Architecture and Construction

The benefits of 3D printing in Architecture and construction field are innumerable. Since 3D printing is an additive process rather than subtractive processes, less materials consumed than in the traditional methods. This reduces the environmental impact as less waste is produced and water consumption is also comparatively less.
3D printing is also being used in interior design projects, 3D printing gives liberty to the Architect or designer to combine the precision of virtual 3D modelling with the tangibility of a physical object thus bridging the gap between imagination and practicality. For example, If an Architect proposes a special kind of wall tile that cannot be found anywhere else, with 3D printing it will be easy to make 3D model and produce a mould and reproduce it with any material. Decorative objects that can be 3D modelled and printed to be directly used as finished products and enhance interior designs.

Australia in an attempt to salvage coral reef ecosystems has 3D printed coral-inspired structures can be placed in coral reefs to provide habitable environments for the various species of fish and sea creatures that depend on coral. Volvo, SIMS and the Reef Design Lab have developed 3D printed seawall tiles whose structure mimics the roots of native mangrove trees
3D printed homes are a revolution and are opening a new frontier in low cost housing. Printing homes offer real cost, speed and waste advantages.

They have the potential of solving the housing crisis with affordable housing, combating natural disasters with immediate shelter, and improving the construction industry with more efficient job sites. labour costs can be reduced by up to 80%.
Because of its fast and economic construction, 3D printing is being used to print bases of wind turbines. GE plans to build wind Turbines with a 3D-printed base that could be taller than the Seattle Space Needle. GE Renewable Energy, COBOD and Lafarge Holcim co-develop record-tall wind turbine towers with 3D-printed concrete base.

5. Fashion

Fashion designers are experimenting with 3D-printed while designing shoes, bags and dresses more and more. Nike manufactured the 2012 Vapor Laser Talon football shoe for players of American football team, and New Balance is 3D manufacturing custom-fit shoes for athletes. On-demand customization of glasses is possible with rapid prototyping. The fashion designers who are pioneering this are Iris Van Herpen and Zac Posen. Zac Posen’s dress for Nina Dobrev looked like water splashed and frozen on her.

6. Food

Additive manufacturing of food is being developed by squeezing out food, layer by layer, into three-dimensional objects. NASA is looking into the technology in order to create 3D printed food to limit food waste and to make food that are designed to fit an astronaut’s dietary needs.

Novameat is a company who recently revealed a ‘steak’ made of pea, seaweed and beetroot juice that has both the firm and fibrous textures of the real thing. The team uses 3D printing technology to cut the substitute into fine fibres in order to mimic muscle tissue, producing the ‘most realistic’ plant-based steak yet. The firm noted that their creation is set to hit Spain and Italy in 2021. KFC has also tested 3D printing its chicken nuggets.

7. Archaeology

Museums – recreate missing pieces of their relics. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum have started using their 3D printers to create museum souvenirs that are available in the museum shops.
Smithsonian Institution uses a 3-D scanner and printer to create better models for exhibits They work by measuring the return rate of a laser beam bounced off various parts of an artefact, which means no more touching with a tape measure or callipers.

Some Archaeologists have used the scan and 3D print technology to replicate the skeleton leaving little to interpretation and preserving something that may easily get damaged if unravelled.

Conclusion

Since 3D printing is an additive process, which means material gets added layer wise where required to form the shape and not subtractive i.e. sculpt from a larger chunk of material, it is a massively waste reducing process thus environmentally beneficial. Now that the world is witnessing this pandemic and it has made all of us aware that nature has the capability to stall our speed in its own way, 3D printing can help gain the speed. Many parts of machines, computers and other hardware which are not possible to be imported can be replicated and 3D printed in that country itself. The possibilities are endless. Who knows there can be a time when we can 3D print human beings who can walk, talk and behave like the real one. This seems like a scary yet interesting future isn’t it? .

Note: All information published here are collected from various websites hosted publicly. However, the conclusion is solely my own view and not of the organizations I am associated with.