3D Printing

Few manufacturing techniques can offer companies with boundless opportunities to perfect a product or piece of equipment such that ABS 3D Printing provides.

And while industries ranging from medical devices to consumer products have benefitted from advancements in ABS 3D Printing technology, its use in the automotive industry has enhanced innovations in design.

In one such instance, General Motors turned to AMP Research, a tier-one supplier to the automotive industry, to develop concepts for an alloy fuel door for its Hummer H2 sport utility vehicle.

According to a report, due to the design flexibility of ABS 3D Printing, AMP Research engineers could quickly provide GM with a variety of physical models of the fuel door that were easily produced with the aid of ABS 3D Printing . Getting prototypes in front of GM faster for review and approval allowed AMP to move through the design process of the fuel door for testing and evaluation much faster.

Wonder how 3D ABS printing helped?

By creating an ABS prototype, engineers could refine designs and cut time from development schedule as it now how the time to test form, fit and functions, while also exploring as many design options as they needed to meet performance specifications. The benefit is that they could readily detect flaws and take corrective steps to deliver excellence to their customer before a costly error was made. So ABS 3D Printing helped to keep the project ahead of schedule and improved the overall product development process.

What does 3D Printingand golf have in common?

If you're TaylorMade and pro golfer Mark O'Meara you can equate it with success - affecting both game performance and sales performance.

When TaylorMade was looking to produce a new set of irons, they turned to O'Meara and 3D printing. While the story is not recent, it is relevant as to the beneficial use of 3D printing.

O'Meara was getting ready for the 1998 Skins Game and asked TaylorMade to have the irons ready in time for him to use during the tournament. TaylorMade had limited time to test and develop its new set of clubs, but because of the availability and expediency of 3D Printing they were able to create 50 wax patterns on a 3D printer, which were then sent to a foundry for casting and finishing.

The end result: The prototype of the Firesole Tour Irons were developed on time using 3D printing, which also provided for tremendous cost-savings-and of course, O'Meara won the Skins Game.

While not every manufacturer has a pro golfer at their disposal to test new products, it does have access to 3D printing technology that can assist its design engineers throughout the product development process.

3D Printing has provided innovative solutions to companies like TaylorMade, but also has been utilized for manufacturers who develop medical equipment for people with disabilities, and 3D printing has also assisted EOIR technologies with the development of a camera mount for the M1 tank and Bradley fighting vehicle.

From the frontline to the golf course, 3D printing technology takes the guesswork out of prototype development to ensure a product's performance under all "stressful" conditions.

Will wonders never cease?: 3D Printing helping Soldiers heal

Despite all the hardship news facing our country today, between economic downturns, corporate scandal, and government mistrust, there is a light of hope, and it comes in the form of 3D model printing.

It's innovative, readily available and people from doctors to architects to manufacturers have taken a closer look at the many benefits that 3D Model Printingand rapid prototyping provides. 3D model printing has been in use since the 1990's, but advances in technology have catapulted into new arenas.

According to a 2008 report in BusinessWeek, surgeons at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who treat soldiers wounded in Iraq, recognized that 3D model printing would assist them in preparing for surgical procedures. And it may surprise you as to the reasons why.

By having the opportunity to practice complex surgery on plastic casts of the actual patient's injured body part produced by 3D model printing, it helped to minimize complications surgeons may face during the operation, such as causing damage to arteries and nerves precariously located near the surgery location.

Other medical facilities are also benefitting from 3D Model Printing particular those that specialize in reconstructive plastic surgery that involves facial prosthetics.
With the aid of 3D camera and the proper software that converts the image into a map of a person's face, a doctor can transfer the image to create a mask using 3D Model Printing that they use as a guide to help with the surgery.

Although the future can't be predicted, it's evident that 3D model printing will continue to open up other doors of opportunity-and hope-for various industries and professions.