In recent years, 3D printing has become possible thanks to 3D printers. 3D printers follow the same principle as 2D printers, but instead of printing ink on sheets of paper, the 3D printer prints objects by superimposing thin layers of materials such as plastic, clay, resin, will and others. From a 3D software or a 3D scanner, it is possible to model objects and then print them with the 3D printer. The possibilities of printing are immense with the 3D printer, it is practically possible to print all possible forms. The only constraints are the size of the printer and the imagination of the user.
The 3D printer can be used in many areas of applications such as industry, jewelery, medicine, food, fashion, armament, DIY, architecture, design, health, aerospace and marketing .
There are even 3D nano printers, such as Nanoscribe, which prints on a scale of a few microns. Based on a CAD model of a spacecraft, the 3D nano printer, Nanoscribe, prints using lasers and rotating mirrors to direct the beams to create a multi-layer structure by polymerization.
Some 3D printers can print objects of several meters. This allows, for example, to print pieces of wood to assemble a house. The project WikiHouse, is an open-source project that offers models of home to assemble oneself from models printed in 3D. However, printing a wooden house poses insurance problems and legislative regulations as well as problems of resistance and insulation. These homes can especially be an opportunity to shelter millions of homeless people.
In Amsterdam, architects use the 3D printer to print their models but also to print their homes directly. In Shanghai, based on the assumption that cars and planes are mass-produced, a contractor thought to do the same thing with the houses and therefore created a company that manufactures series houses with 3D printers by mixing concrete with a other material to solidify the house.
The furniture can even be printed from 3D models. It’s a real 3D revolution, and tomorrow we’ll probably be all architects from our own homes.
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