RobertBarreto

Ms.Nicdao

ResearchandDigitalLiteracy

15July2016

3DPrinters
Haveyoueverwantedtocreateanythinginyourownhome?Thevalueof3Dprinters
anditsservicesisabout2.2billiondollars.Themarketsizeisgrowingatasignificantrateof30
percentbetween2012and2013.3Dprintingwillimpactsocietyinmanywayssuchasbeing
abletocreateinstrumentsforthemedicalfield.Itcanevencreatehumanbodypartsand
prostheticlimbs.This3Dprinterisveryconvenienttohaveinyourownhousehold.Everneeda
newcollarforyourdog?Peoplecandesignthecollarhoweveryouwantandanysize.Oncethe
designisfinished,youcanimmediatelyprintitout.Likeeverymachine,thereareimperfections.
The3Dmodelmayhaveamissinglayer,theremaybegapsinthetoporbottomlayer,andthe
modelmightbeslightlytilted.
The3Dprinterismadepossiblebyfusinglayersuponlayersofmaterialmadefrom
plasticandmetals.Eachlayerisabout0.1mmthickandconsistofliquid,powderandsheet
metals.Anaverageprintercanproduceanobjectroughlytwoinchesinlessthan10minutes.The
priceofthe3Dprinterdoesaffecttheproductiontime.Thehigherthepricegenerallythebetter

resolutionandbuildtime.Theprofessional3DprintingtechnologysuchasSLScommercial
printercanprint1.92.7in/hr.DesktopprintingtechnologysuchasFDMprinterscanprint
anywherefrom0.31.7in/hr.

3Dprintingwillsolvehelpandsolveproblemsintheenvironment.Therewillbea
reductionoffossilfuelsusedfromshipping.Everydaymillionsofbarrelsofoilsareusedfor
shippingitemsaroundtheworld.Whenthereisfuel,thereispollution.3Dprintingisalready
helpingtocutbackonshipmentsinmanyindustries.Today,3Dprinterscanprintasmartphone
case,atoy,orjewelry.Anotherproblemitcansolveispollutionofplastics.Plastic,aswellas
metalandothermaterialscanbeturnedintomaterialsusedfor3Dprinting.
Likeeverymachine,thereisimperfections.Somenegativesthatcomewith3Dprinting
isthattherewillbelessmanufacturingjobssinceyoucancreatealmostanythingwiththe3D
printer.ThiswillimpactlargecountriessuchasChina,thatdependonalargenumberoflow
skilledjobs.3Dprintingarelimitedwithmaterialstocreateyourmodel.Currently,3Dprinters
canonlymanufactureproductsoutofplastic,resin,certainmetals,andceramics.Also,3D
printersarelimitedwiththesizeoftheproductsthattheycancreate.
3Dprintersareveryconvenienttohave.Beingabletoproduceanymodelyoucan
imagineinyourownhousehold.Thiswillnotonlybenefityoubuttheenvironmentaswell.This
brilliantinventionwillbenefitschoolsaswell.Thiscanbeusedformanyacademiccurriculums
suchasart,math,science,andmanymore.Thiswillimpactbusinesses,themedicalfield,and
societyasawhole.

WorkCited

"10WaysThat3DPrintingWillChangeOurLives3DEngineer."
3DEngineer
.N.p.,25Oct.

2014.Web.15July2016.

"YourResourcefor3DPrintingSpeed,BuildTimeandPostprocessingSpeeds."
SculpteoBlog
.

N.p.,21Sept.2015.Web.15July2016.

"3Ways3DPrintingWillSavetheEnvironment."
3DPrintcom
.N.p.,24Jan.2014.Web.15
July2016.

"TheProsandConsof3DPrinting."
PhilforHumanity
.N.p.,n.d.Web.15July2016.