3D Printing (5) Page 5

Over the last 10-15 years, perhaps no other emerging technology has gotten as much buzz as additive manufacturing (AM). Its initial, over-simplified, name is 3D printing and is known and understood at some level by people as early as grade school. Its rapid maturity (no pun intended), however, has placed it firmly at the leading edge of Industry 4.0 and is an important consideration for any business. In this article, we’ll forgo the usual explanations of the different technologies and how they work. We have a wealth of existing content to cover that, and it’s easily accessible through our past blogs, videos, and webinars. Instead, we will share exactly why you should consider this technology. 

One of the last steps you may have in proving yourself for your chosen industry is to implement your knowledge, teamwork and design skills on a multi-semester final project. Your results will be presented in front of other engineers, potential sponsors, and a possible connection that could propel you in the job market. These final projects are important, especially how your design process will parallel workflows that practicing engineers, designers and manufacturers go through. Honing in on a design, accumulating research and creating the best solution to a problem is something these design firms go through every day.

Have you ever wondered why there are different types of 3D printer file formats? Well, these various formats carry the encoded information that includes geometry, texture, color, transparency and more. The format dictates the variety of the information available and makes it possible for 3D printers to read. However, there are quite a few to choose from. Today I am going to share with you which ones are the most common and what information they carry to help you determine what will be the best fit for your 3D printing project. 

The idea of using cloud computing for product development is not a new idea. In fact, there are almost as many purported cloud solutions as there are product development processes. With all the opportunities that this technology offers it is easy to see why there's so much excitement around it, but it can be hard to understand how this abstract idea can be applied to a real-world process. 

In this multi-part video series, we will be walking you through the concept, design, simulation and production of real product prototypes using SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This will give you a great idea of how this tool can empower you and your team to create using a real-time ecosystem that connects people, ideas and data.

As engineering and design needs evolve, new challenges must be overcome. Adapting to change and understanding the needs of clients while providing cutting-edge solutions is a necessity to staying on top, both in technology and price point. Stratasys continually pushes the boundaries of 3D printing with these important factors in mind and recently launched their newest innovations as a firm testament to that. 

Whether you are an in-house engineer looking for something that offers multi-material options with a smaller footprint, an in-house designer with a desire to generate maximum output, or a medical professional that wants to produce high-quality, certified models, you will absolutely love the fantastic options that are now available in the 3D printing space from Stratasys. 

The 3D printing space is chock full of different OEM’s boasting features and benefits that make them appear better, faster, or less expensive. Meanwhile; Stratasys is putting their money where their mouth is by constantly developing new materials to push the limits of additive manufacturing. Vero UltraBlack™ Black and Vero UltraWhite™ have opened a new avenue of 3D printing by allowing users to achieve rich and full true colors at a mind-boggling thickness. Additionally, they have increased their achievable color gamut to over 560,000 different colors, giving users more design possibilities allowing them to create without compromise on the PolyJet J8-Series and J55 Printers.

There is no doubt that wearing a quality fitted piece of clothing that you love can boost your confidence. In the exponentially growing world of online shopping, size and fit are among the top reasons customers return orders. Today, we find ourselves embracing 3D technology more than ever before, and surprisingly, this technology is poised to be the best defense against ill-fitting clothing. Many internationally renowned brands and designers are implementing 3D scanning as an essential tool to create custom-fitted pieces that will boost not only comfort but confidence when you wear them. 

3D printing in color has been around longer than you think. Do you need a prototype printed in yellow ABS? No problem, load a yellow spool of filament in your 3D printer and voilà! You have yourself a yellow part. How about blue? We have you covered, just toss some blue photopolymer in your SLA vat and BAM! A blue part can be printed. How about a part with multiple colors? No problem. Break out the trusty sandpaper and good old-fashion elbow grease, maybe some primer, then either spray or hand paint your model until your heart is content.

Oh… you were hoping to have full color printed parts straight off the printer? Why didn’t you say so? Let me introduce you to Stratasys PolyJet technology.

One of the most exciting aspects of 3D printing in full color is the ability to take a 3D scan and a copy of the model in full color! Using the Artec Space Spider 3D scanner and the Stratasys J55 full color PolyJet 3D printer, this task can be accomplished easily in under a day. This efficiency empowers you and your team to make prototypes and replicas of just about anything quicker than ever before, and faster than many people realize. In this blog post, I will be summarizing the work we did to clone a regular household banana, from a 3D scan to a full color 3D print.