5 Ways 3D Printing is Bigger than you THINK

[LoudMcCloud]

3D Printing News: 5 Ways 3D Printing is Bigger Than You Think

I think 3d printing will be one of the things that really changes how fast we create things. You can come up with an idea: Translate it to a computer. Create the idea and test it. Now that was fast.

 

[waltky]

3-D printing opens world of possibilities for military...

From brains to planes, 3-D printing opens world of possibilities
July 20, 2013 > Making a gun with a printer is old news. The latest applications under development are straight from science fiction: ready-to-fly drones, transplantable organs, ammunition and even meals.

Three-dimensional printing burst into the collective consciousness almost overnight with revelations that a Texas group fired a printed plastic handgun in May and put the plans on the Internet. But the U.S. government — from NASA to the Navy — has been using and studying the technology for more than a decade, and the possibilities are limited only by imagination. The Navy is at the forefront of Defense Department efforts because it often operates remotely, relies on an expensive supply network, and has limited space on ships for supplies. Navy officials believe the technology could have a huge impact on maritime strategy. “It’s an evolving technology, but I think it has incredible potential,” Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Llenza, senior naval fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, told Stars and Stripes. “I see it as an enabler for sea placing because it can cut down on the lengthy and costly supply chain.”

Llenza has been studying 3-D printing over the course of his fellowship, enticed by the technology after personally seeing how one broken part could hold an aircraft back from a combat mission and affect military readiness. The naval flight officer is slated to give a report to the Navy upon the completion of his work. In May, he wrote an article in the Armed Forces Journal that offered a window into U.S. government and academic efforts that go far beyond a one-shot plastic handgun.

Floating factories?

Three-dimensional printing — also known as additive manufacturing — is the process of inputting specifications for a three-dimensional object into Computer Aided Drafting software and using a printer to create it from a chosen material. Most current printers work with a single material, like plastic or metal, but multi-material printers are in the early stages of development. Printers can cost several hundred dollars to more than $500,000. The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and its predecessor have been using 3-D printing since the mid-1990s, according to Navy Capt. Gerald Grant. The Army began pouring resources into 3-D printing as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq raged and wounded troops came back with amputations as well as facial and cranial injuries. Now, their 3-D Medical Applications Center encompasses an entire floor and features some of the best 3-D printing equipment in the Defense Department.

The center has the capability to scan a servicemember’s wound and produce everything from custom titanium cranial plates to custom prosthetics that used to be fabricated by hand and almost always had to be whittled down because the fit wasn’t quite right. “It’s changed medicine,” Grant said. “Now we sit around and ask, ‘What do we want these pieces to do?’ instead of ‘What kinds of pieces can companies build?’” All three Naval Air Systems Command Level III Depots — Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.; Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.; and Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla. — use 3-D printers to make tools, models and parts. There are 83 plastic parts that can be made for the F/A-18 and more than 300 for the Joint Strike Fighter, according to spokesman Gary Younger.

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[Mr. H.]

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