Why is 3D printing not hot now?

From 2014 to 2015, 3D printing has attracted a lot of attention in China, but now it seems to have disappeared. Why is it so powerful and high-tech technology with a wide range of applications will gradually fade out from people’s horizons? What are the areas covered by it? What is 3D printing? 3D printing works in the same way as a normal flat-panel printer, but it is quite different in terms of consumables. The general printer’s consumables are generally paper and ink, while the 3D printing consumables are metal, plastic, ceramic, etc. Material; the purpose of 3D printing technology is to turn the three-dimensional design blueprint into a real object by printing. After the printer and the computer are connected, the cross-section information in the drawing is read and layered by liquid or solid material, and then they are formed. Bonded into the blueprint in kind in a variety of ways. Simply put, 3D printing uses a material stored in the printer to print a solid object, and can print almost any shape of the object. This technology was actually developed as early as the 1980s and commercialized in the 1990s. Wide range of 3D printing Most people think of 3D printing and think of some molds, models and the like. In fact, 3D printing can do much more than that. The application range of 3D printing includes medical, aerospace, automobile manufacturing, construction, etc. It is not difficult to find that these industries have some common features, such as the need for high-precision calculations and strict requirements on materials. So what is the specific application of 3D printing for these industries? Because 3D printing has the characteristics of high precision and plasticity, it is quite helpful for the medical industry, especially for surgical applications. As we all know, the body’s organs and limbs are unique, which means that if serious damage or loss is irreversible, but the emergence of 3D printing solves these problems, 3D printing liver, 3D print skull, 3D printing Organs or limbs such as the palm, 3D printed heart, and 3D printed blood vessels appear one after another. The working principle is also very well understood. The blueprint for designing the patient’s organs or limbs is connected to the 3D printer for printing. However, because the application is very demanding for the precision of the blueprint or the quality of the material, the cost is very expensive. The contribution of 3D printing to the aerospace industry is also outstanding, as well as its high-precision qualities. NASA completed the world’s first imaging telescope in September 2014, and most of its components were manufactured using 3D printing technology. Only mirrors and lenses were not implemented through this technology. In October of the same year, a group of British space enthusiasts used 3D printing technology to build a small self-driving rocket weighing 3 kilograms. After launch, the jet speed was as high as 1,610 kilometers per hour, and then returned through the automatic driving system on the rocket. Earth, these achievements are enough to prove that 3D printing technology is immeasurable for the development of the aerospace industry. 3D printing technology may be a revolutionary innovation for the construction industry. In the future, it may not be necessary to spend a lot of manpower to build a house. Instead, the already-designed architectural blueprint will be printed out through 3D printing technology, which will save the cost and restore the design to a greater extent. For the automotive industry, 3D printing not only creates a selling point, but also makes the car more environmentally friendly. The world’s first 3D printing supercar “Blade” was launched by the American DM company in July 2015. The car is made up of a series of aluminum and carbon fiber, so it is quite lightweight, weighing only 0.64 tons; the light body makes It has become even better in terms of energy efficiency. Why can’t 3D printing be popular? Although the 3D printing industry has formed a certain scale in China, it is definitely not popular. So why is the application technology with such a powerful function so embarrassing? The first is that the cost is very high. For example, the engineering plastics used in 3D printing are much higher than the general industrial plastics, and the price of the printer is also an inexpensive fee. The most basic one is 10,000 yuan. Second is the slow printing speed. 3D printing works take an average of more than 10 hours, and the industrial assembly line is tens of times more efficient than it. In the final analysis, the imperfections of the industry and the lack of maturity of technology are the main reasons why the industry cannot flourish. Most of the 3D printing technologies on the market today are mainly used in small works, such as toys and handicrafts. It’s completely overkill. However, due to the immature technology, 3D printing is unable to make a big impact in most industries that can be invested, so it has led to this embarrassing situation. It is believed that in the near future, with the development of science and technology and the formation of industrial ecology, the industry applied by 3D printing will become wider and wider, and the scale will become more and more mature. What do you think about 3D printing? Have you used 3D printed products?