3d printing (also known as additive manufacturing and build-up manufacturing) is a technology based on digital model files, which uses adhesive materials such as powder metal or plastic to construct objects by printing layer by layer. This technology was first proposed by the United States in the mid-1980s.
3D printing is often used in mold manufacturing, industrial design and other fields to make models, and then gradually used in the direct manufacturing of some products, which has a far-reaching impact on the traditional process flow, production line, factory model and industrial chain combination, and is a representative subversive technology in manufacturing.
The process of 3D printing
The design process of three-dimensional printing is: first, use computer modeling software to model, and then "divide" the built three-dimensional model into layers of sections, that is, slices, thus guiding the printer to print layer by layer.
The standard file format for collaboration between design software and printer is STL file format. STL files use triangular surfaces to approximate the surface of objects. The smaller the triangular surface, the higher the resolution of the generated surface. PLY is a scanner that scans the generated 3D files, and VRML or WRL files generated by PLY are often used as input files for full-color printing.
By reading the cross-section information in the document, the printer prints these cross-sections layer by layer with liquid, powder or sheet material, and then bonds the cross-sections of each layer together in various ways to form an entity. The characteristic of this technology is that almost any shape can be made.