Introduction
The process of 3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, takes a digital 3-D model and transforms it into a solid object. It does this through stacking layers of the desired material to create the desired product. The solid can be nearly any shape and is without many of the limitations that traditional manufacturing has.
3-D printers have several different forms that differentiate the machines and how they work. Among these, the mainstream one is FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), a filament-based technology holding nearly 95% of the 3-D printer’s that were shipped in 2016.
To date, the main usage of 3-D printers lies in prototyping. Some of the industries that use this technology include aerospace, defense, healthcare, jewelry and much more. The current usages of 3-D printers can be seen in the figure below. In the future, it is hoped that 3-D printing can be used on a large scale to make the finished products and not only prototypes.
The future for both the materials involved in 3-D printing, especially filament, and 3-D printing itself are very bright and they are consistently growing in size and revenue. Although the future market estimates vary from $7Bil to $22Bil by 2020, it is obvious that the industry is at a constant growing point. The reasons for the large differences in these estimates lie in the room for innovation in this area. A breakthrough in the field of 3D printing, be it in the materials or the 3D printers themselves, would allow the industry to grow at a very rapid rate.
In this article, Daydream will give a brief introduction of 3-D printing and the materials associated with it, if you need more information linked to 3-D printing and its downstream industries, please contact contact@www.daydream.eu, stephanie.lorini@dynovel.com, jean-louis.cougoul@www.daydream.eu.
Expectations vs. Reality
3-D printing technologies were promised to revolutionize many different industries throughout the world. They would take over the automotive industry making cars and parts for cars much more efficiently than in the traditional way. Part quality would improve in both structure and form. Although, as 3-D printing has come into the light, some of those promises were not upheld.
The expectations for this new technology were endless. It was promised that this would sweep the world away and be an equivalent to the internet, in the sense of how much of an impact it would have on the world. 3-D printing did not quite live up to the hype, leaving plenty of room for innovation.
Certain limitations in this technology are the reason for it not being as big of a hit in industry as was initially thought. One of these limitations is that it is a slightly slower process to use when manufacturing items in bulk. One of the reasons for this slow production speed is the filament used to 3-D print. The filament used to 3-D print takes time to either cool off or solidify. Also, consumers expect that they should be able to print out an object that is perfect and that has an extremely smooth surface. This way of thinking is incorrect in most cases. Most products, after being produced, go through a stage to smooth their surfaces so that they look nice and can be sold. Although this is becoming less and less of a problem with newer and better printers and filaments, it still has to be considered when printing an object, especially from a desktop printer.
Market Trends
Although 3-D printers did not exactly revolutionize the manufacturing industry, the market is still ever-growing. The market predictions for the future of 3-D printers and the materials for them range from $7Bil to $21Bil by 2020.
The Wohlers Associates annual worldwide report (2016 edition) on 3D printing and additives manufacturing states that the 3-D printing industry has grown by $1 billion to a total of $5,165 billion in 2015. It was estimated that the global 3-D printing industry would grow to $21 billion by 2020. On the desktop 3-D printer side, Wohlers also revealed strong growth— whereas in 2014, roughly 160,000 desktop 3-D printers were sold, that number is up to 278,000 and counting. Both graphs above illustrate the past and forecasted growth.
Another report done by Siemens says that 3-D printing will be an $8.3 billion global industry by 2023. So, as seen by these two reports alone, it is obvious that some of the statistics are very inflated. This might also show that the market is ever-growing and that no one is able to accurately predict the future market. The field is often changing and innovations are a common occurrence in the 3-D printing industry making it hard to forecast the market for it. If an innovation occurs in the industry that allows the price of mass production using this technology to go down, this would then make the market for 3-D printing increase substantially.
3-D Printing Systems
There are many different types of 3-D printers that are used that print objects in different ways. The nine most common 3-D printers are FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), SLA (Stereolithography), DLP (Digital Light Processing), SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), SLM (Selective Laser Melting), EBM (Electron Beam Melting), LOM (Laminated Object Manufacturing), BJ (Binder Jetting), and MJ (Material Jetting/Was Casting).
Materials Used for 3-D Printing
The most commonly used materials for 3-D printing are thermoplastics. These plastics include Polylactic Acid (PLA), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), PolyAmide (PA), High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), and Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE). Examples of thermoplastic filaments can be seen below
Some of the top companies that produce filament are Hatchbox Filaments, Taulman Filaments, 3rDment Filaments, and NinjaFlex Filaments. Hatchbox is the top rated brand by consumers due to the fact that it is cheap and prints well. It comes exclusively in 1.75 mm filaments. It comes in PLA, ABS, and HIPS. Taulman Filaments is the leader in the nylon and PETT type filaments. Although these materials are more expensive than ones such as PLA, they come in both 1.75 mm and 3 mm. 3rDment Filaments, like Hatchbox, offers ABS and PLA. It also offers PVA. Also, like Hatchbox, they sell it in exclusively 1.75 mm. Finally, NinjaFlex Filaments offers a flexible filament. It comes in many colors and in both 1.75 mm and 3 mm. The material used is more expensive than the other options and depending on the color, price will vary. This is due to the flex in the filament, making NinjaFlex a specialty filament.
Although thermoplastics are the most commonly used materials, metals can also be used to 3-D print. Wire-fed 3-D printers can use almost any metal alloy as the material to create objects. The process used is called Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication. One of the pitfalls of this sort of printing is that it is not cheap. Also, the rigidity of a 3-D printed metal object is questionable due to the way that 3-D printing of a metal object works. A metal powder is mixed with a thermoplastic carrier material. The mixture is then laid down and the product is then heated so as to remove the carrier. This, however, does not produce a product that is as strong as a machined part. This is because there will be slight gaps in the product due to the carrier exiting. This also can affect the outcome of the product because it may grow slightly smaller in size or it may come out larger than expected.
Conclusion
There are some seemingly obvious areas of innovation for filaments used in 3-D printing. This is because of the fact that the filaments seem to be the limiting factor on the reason 3-D printing has yet to be used in large scale production processes. The market right now is in a stagnant phase because of the lack of innovation in the industry. There has not been a real push towards large scale manufacturing which is what is needed in order to see real market growth. Some sort of innovation for the filaments being used would really allow this market to skyrocket and for a large profit to be made by the first company to do so.
The future expectations of 3-D printing are very high, although, most of it is within reach. To be able to create a full size aircraft wing or specialized lightweight car parts are just a couple of the expectations for the future of 3-D printing.
References
- Louis Columbus, 2015 Roundup Of 3D Printing Market Forecasts And Estimates; https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2015/03/31/2015-roundup-of-3d-printing-market-forecasts-and-estimates/#3ad05c471b30
- Ramon, 3-D Printing Materials Are Not Limited To Plastic…; http://3dinsider.com/most-popular-3d-printing-materials/
- Andy, Best 3D Printer Filament in 2017; ://www.3dprinterprices.net/best-3d-printer-filament/
- 3D Printing Technology Guide: 9 Basic Types of 3D Printers; https://all3dp.com/types-of-3d-printer-technology-explained/
- Emma Harwood, Top 3D Printing Companies;
