3D Printing and its Place in Science
Mackenzie Barclay
IT 103 Sec. 002
February 17th 2014
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Introduction
Many people now have heard in the
next big thing in the IT industry besides the smart phone, 3D printing. Many
would probably think that this development arose in this decade, when the truth
is that it has been developing for the last 25 years. It is only now hitting
its stride, 3D printing is being used by manufacturing companies and is even
available for purchase to individuals (Deagon 2013). It is revolutionary in
that it prints by depositing materials in very thin layers until it has built
up to what is being printed; this is where it has an incredible edge on
conventional methods of producing objects with things such as molds or by
piecing together different parts (Jones, 2012). This paper will explain the
beginnings of 3D printing, the basics of how it works, why it is only now
stepping into the spotlight, and the various impacts it will have on the
market, the law, security, society and also its amazing potential for the
future.
Background
20 years ago three dimensional
printers were still extremely costly prototypes that used toxic materials to
print out whatever it was the owner desired. Now anyone could buy a lower end personal 3
dimensional printer for around 300-500 dollars. However, industrial sized
printer go for about 73,000 dollars on average (Jones, 2012). But how exactly
does it print in the third dimension? There are basically three ways a 3D
printer might print something, one sprays the material one thin layer at a
time, this is called multi-jet modelling (MJM). Another will fuse the material
by using infrared or ultraviolet light, this is called include fused deposition
modelling (FDM). Lastly there is selective laser melting (SLM) (Jones, 2012) (Zolfagharifard,
2012). Because of the way the materials are deposited, spaces can easily be left
inside what is being printed. This allows for very complex structures can be
made with incredible ease (Science and Technology, 2011). A great example of
this would be printing a hip replacement in the way that Materialise, a Belgian
company, does. They copy in the titanium the same lattice structure that is
found in bones, allowing the implant to be lighter but not any less sturdy
(Science and Technology, 2011).
Anyone can print with a 3D printer
as long as they have downloaded software to create an STL file, which can be
found mostly for free online. STL files divide a design into “triangular
facets” which is how the printer is able to print using all three dimensions.
The most common materials used for 3 dimensional printing are mostly plastics
resins and powders. The most widely used plastic is polylactic Acid, while
resins are typically liquid and powders are usually the powdered form of
titanium or stainless steel.
Potential
Benefits
The most common material used for 3D
printing is polylactic acid, which is considered environmentally friendly due
to its biodegradability. It is also a very sustainable material since it is
made from cornstarch, sugar cane and other various plant components. Because of
the nature of 3 dimensional printing much less waste is created than if the
same object was made by means of mass production (Nowak, 2013)(Deagon, 2013).
If we follow the path that many experts predict and in the future there is a 3D
printer per household, this will greatly reduce the pollutants associated with
transportation of finished manufactured goods. However the jobs once held by
factory workers and the transporters of those manufactured goods would be out
of jobs with nowhere to turn. The 3 dimensional printer could very well bring
down mass production and the consumer culture all by itself and creating a
“customization culture” (Nowak, 2013) allowing consumers to simply buy the raw
material and print whatever it is that they need or want. However manufacturing
cannot completely disappear, 3D printing will reduce the cost of things that
are complex in shape or design. One study done by Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory in California compared the cost of making one lead bullet the
traditional way versus the three dimensional way was about 67 cents cheaper.
Aside from the consumer benefits
there are some medical breakthroughs that have taken place due to the
technology of 3D printing. For example biologist have been looking into
printing human cells that fuse together, they have been able to make blood
vessels and even beating heart tissue. One California based company even has a
printer designed to build 3D tissue that may be used to test pharmaceuticals.
3D printing has also shed light on inner cell structures whose internal shapes
could not be seen on a computer screen (Jones, 2012). Other researcher have
succeeded in making cartilage as well (Deagon 2013).
Legal
and Ethical Issues
Because of the nature of 3D printing
and the internet, it will be incredibly hard to enforce copyright law. There
are sites set up specifically to share STL files and designs. Companies will
now have to worry about individuals coming up with a design that exactly or
very closely represents a product of theirs and making it available for public
download. This would be very hard to monitor and control, because the time that
it takes to find these copied designs and then for them to be taken down,
hundreds of thousands of people may have already downloaded the file. Enabling
them to share that same file on the internet again, it is a cycle that does not
look like it can be broken with the laws that we have in place as of now. Much
like how people illegally download and share music (Nowak, 2013).
Security
Concerns
With 3D printing there is really
only one major security concern, homemade weapons and illegal weapon
modification. With this technology it is actually possible to print out your own
gun with all nonmetal parts (Nowak, 2013). This will be a security issue for
any large public meeting place with only metal detectors like court houses,
concerts and even museums. These plastic guns are not as effective as the real
thing but according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives if
a plastic gun was fired at close range could pierce vital organs and even a
person’s skull (Johnson, 2013). 3D printed plastic guns poses less of a threat
to airport security since some airports have full body scanners where to detect
any sort of concealed object, and in airports with only metal detectors, danger
would be unlikely because the gun still uses metal bullets which would not pass
through airport security. The more likely and unfortunately less controllable
threat would be people printing out their own metal, illegal guns at home
(Johnson, 2013). This could have serious consequences and the possibility is
already real. With one Google search you can find numerous articles and even
videos of people demonstrating the power of their newly printed gun. With
website created specifically to share designs and STL files, people could
easily share their design for an illegal automatic firearm that others would
download and print. How will this be regulated? Can it even be regulated? These
are just a few of the new problems to be solved with 3d printing making its way
in to the mainstream of our lives.
Further
Required Research
The future of 3D printing seems to be endless, but 2
exciting areas are attracting tons of attention, these areas are in organ
printing and food printing. Organ printing would give doctors the upper hand in
the fight for cancer, and many other diseases. With cell printing and cartilage
printing already happening, Avi Reichental, the president and CEO of 3D Systems
says in regards to if we would one day be able to print organs, it is “not a
question of if it will happen, but when and how” (Deagon, 2013). Also the
possibility of one day being able to print out food seems to be feasible. Hod
Lipson the co-author of Fabricated: The
New World of 3D Printing thinks that the future of printed food will be at
home, with consumers purchasing 3D printers to essentially print out dinner
(Zuraw, 2013). However full blown food printing is a long ways off, but with
advancements in technology should allow for the printing of full meals. There
are even companies such as Modern Meadow trying to come up with bioengineered
meat to be printed (Zuraw, 2013). Reichental envisions the early stages of food
printing as printing out bars designed for the unique nutritional needs for
individuals (Deagon, 2013).
Conclusion
It’s
no doubt that 3D printing will have a huge impact on the future, economically
medically and even socially. It took the 3D printing industry its life time of
around 25 years to reach 1 billion dollars, and it is expected to be 4 billion
dollars by next year (McCue, 2013). This expansion in the industry is due to
the improvements in the technology and price drop of the technology, also some
of the patent that these printers were under are expiring allowing for more
people to access, make and improve their own printers (Nowak, 2013). Medically
3 dimensional printers and the potential of organ printing would be able to
solve a number of lethal diseases. With all its benefits 3D printing will have
some challenges to face such as enforcement of copyright laws and the
production of illegal weapons. All we can do is create relevant and beneficial
restriction, and use this power of printing in the third dimension responsibly.
Reference
List
Deagon, B.
(2013, Dec 31). 3D printing revolution enters its 2.0 phase big breakthroughs
forecast the technology might be used to create foods and even human organs.
Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1471911268?accountid=14541
This
source recounts how 3D printing made its way into the mainstream and to
consumer use. It explains what 3D printing was first used for when the
technology first came out. This is a reputable source because it came from the
newspaper Business Daily.
Publisher:
Investor’s Business Daily, Inc.; Publication date: Dec. 31, 2013; Place of
publication: Los Angeles
Johnson, C.
(November 14, 2013) Plastic Guns Made
With 3-D Printers Pose New Security Concerns. Retrieved from:http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/11/14/245078880/plastic-guns-made-with-3-d-printers-pose-new-security-concerns
This
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source with fairly unbiased and accurate information.
Jones, N. (July 2012). Science
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487, 22-23. doi:10.1038/487022a
http://www.nature.com/news/science-in-three-dimensions-the-print-revolution-1.10939 (ProQuest) 2/17/2014
This scholarly
article talks about what 3D printing is being used across all fields of science
and how it in being incorporated into research. This is a reliable source since
it showed up on a search of George Mason’s Data base. It also had its own
reference page with proper cited article and had the author visible and was
from the NATURE the International Weekly Journal of Science.
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Forbes Magazine
is a highly accredited publication that often evaluates businesses and
discusses company profits and also analyzes stocks. They are a goof website to
go to if you would like to know more about a particular business or an
industry, and its profitability. This is a reliable and credible source.
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This was
retrieved using the George Mason library and specifically the data base
ProQuest so it is a credible source. (Scholarly article)
Science and
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Economist, 401, 87-88. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/910208345?accountid=14541
This article talks about the
emergence of 3D printing and the very basics of how it works. This source was
pulled from George Mason’s data base, specifically ProQuest, so it is a
reputable and trustworthy source.
Publication
title: The Economist; Publication date Dec, 10, 2011; Publisher: The Economist
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Zolfagharifard,
E. (2012, Dec 04). 3D printing set to hit the mainstream. The Engineer
(Online), Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1221571589?accountid=14541
This
scholarly article talks about the future of 3D printing and also the basic
kinds of 3D printing. This was retrieved from George Mason’s library data base
ProQuest.
Zuraw,
L. (February 05, 2013). First,
Personalized Pez Dispensers. Next, Printed Food? Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/01/170862498/first-personalized-pez-dispensers-next-printed-food
This web article was retrieved from npr.com which is
a well-known and reputable news source with fairly unbiased and accurate
information.
