-
Asked by anon-74270 on 1 May 2020.
-
Heather Lamming answered on 1 May 2020: last edited 1 May 2020 9:01 am
All 3d printing starts with a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file of the object. A 3d printer needs its own software to read the CAD file and work out everything to make the 3d print. All 3d printer software uses a file called a Stereolithography (.stl) which is made from the CAD file. All CAD software has the ability to convert the 3d object from its own native file format to the 3d printer file format – .stl file. 3d printer software uses the .stl file to create a mesh of the geometry and then slices the object into lots and lots of layers. The printer software works out how many layers are needed to make the object, it also works out how the printer head moves in X and Y directions and where the object is on the build plate. The software then converts all this information into what is called G-code. This is machine language for moving the printer head and the build table. When you start printing the printer is reading the G-code. The 3d printer prints each layer moving the print head in X and Y directions and after a layer is done it moves the build plate down by 1 layer thickness – this is the Z direction. The 3d printer does this over and over again until the object is built.
-
Comments
Sophie commented on :
After the computers have done all there work as Heather explains the 3D printer does its job. Different printers work in different ways. There are printers which work by injection, the material being used comes out of a nozzle, like squeezing toothpaste. This is how most plastic printers work. You can also get metal printers that work in a similar way but the metal comes out in a powder and there is a laser to melt it as it comes out, but with these types of printers you draw the shape with it as it comes out.
There is another type of printer that uses layers of powder and then a laser or sometimes electrons to melt the shape you want into the layer of powder, then a new layer is added. This is the type of printer I use because you get really good resolution (fine detail). It is the most common type from printing metals, you can also print plastics but less common that the injection type I described before.
For plastics you can also have these really futuristic looking printers that have a vat of the plastic and then you flash UV light onto a layer just where you want your object to be which solidifies it, then you pull that layer up a bit and flash another UV light shape and slowly the finished object appear out of the VAT.
You can also get some funky printers that can print gels (like jelly) with cells in that are helping us get someway to being able to print organs for the body. These generally work by injection, but you have to get the force right because you want the gel to come out where you want but you don’t want to damage the cells.
There is also printing of concrete by injection that they have been using to build houses.
This wikipedia page has lots of diagrams and more explanations if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing_processes