Successful Engineering Solutions With FDM 3D Printing (1)

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Successful Engineering Solutions With FDM 3D
Printing
As the technology behind 3D printing begins to
evolve, it seems worth mentioning that the whole
idea of 3D printing was introduced to the public
at large 4 decades ago back in 1983. It was then
that Mr. Chuck Hull created the first ever 3D
printer, but the 'buzz' around 3D printing began
to attract more attention in the most recent
years. Thanks to social media platforms 3D
printing is the latest 'watchword' in innovative
technology. For the purpose of this post, we are
going to take a look at one of the areas of 3D
printing that is gaining in popularity even as
we speak. Fused Deposition Modeling, or FDM as it
is referred to is a process where there can be
several 'layers' of materials that are fused
together in a specific pattern to create a
specific object. These individual layers that are
fused, are allowed to 'build up' during the
printing process and then eventually forming the
finished part. FDM 3D Printing offers several
benefits over other types of 3D printing so let's
take a look at some of those benefits now.
Benefits of FDM 3D Printing Perhaps the best
overall benefit of FDM 3D Printing is having the
ability to easily be scaled larger, or smaller,
depending on the specific required printed part.
The only thing restraining the printing process
is the size of the build area from the movement
of the gantry within the printer. Making the
gantry rails longer will allow the build are to
become larger. No other printing process on the
market today has this ability to be scaled with
as few issues as possible. The most obvious
benefit of having such a scalable design is the
cost-to-size ratio. FDM 3D Printers are
constantly evolving into bigger, less expensive
machines thanks in part to overall low cost and
simplicity of the designs. Another benefit is
the advantage of material flexibility. Any FDM 3D
Printer can operate with a rather wide variety
of materials such as thermoplastics, and exotic
filaments. These materials can be used by the
printer with very little upgrade or modification.
Other types of 3D printers operate solely on
resins or fine powders. Other 3D printers cost
many times more than FDM 3D Printers simply due
to the fact they cannot be scaled up, and they
operate on expensive materials.
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The Added Value of FDM 3D Printing By offering
FDM 3D Printing services, the timeline is
virtually shattered due to the ease of taking a
particular part from concept, to actual parts
being loaded to ship to your customers. Every
step of parts design is made possible by using
this type of printing service. FDM 3D Printing
will allow faster 'On Demand Manufacturing,' as
well as 'Rapid Prototyping Services.' Perhaps
you already know the benefit of typical 3D
printing services. But now think of the added
value of On Demand Manufacturing, Rapid
Prototyping Service, and Cloud Manufacturing all
from FDM 3D Printing Services.
Examples of FDM 3D Printing FDM 3D Printing
allows professionals as well as hobbyist, to
create large detailed parts and pieces or the
smallest most minute type of detail in parts all
created from a wide array of simple to exotic
materials. Here are some more common uses of this
type of printing technology ? Prototyping. The
use of this technology to provide rapid
prototyping is perhaps the most frequently used
aspect of FDM 3D Printing. FDM offers a quick,
affordable, and easy alternative to standard
types of prototyping services. ? Prosthetics. It
seems that the standard production of prosthetics
is both costly, and time- consuming. FDM 3D
Printing offers the prosthetic industry a viable
alternative that is cheaper to produce, with
quicker turnaround times. ? Industrial
applications. The industrial FDM 3D Printer are
capable of producing end-use applications parts
for industries such as aerospace, automotive,
manufacturing, and medical. ? Architecture. The
smallest detail can be achieved when using the
FDM 3D Printer to build models for the
architecture industries. These printers can
produce a better end product that is easy to
assemble and transport, as well as being tough
for a longer duration of the assembled
model. ? Surgical models. These printers are
being used globally to prepare doctors for
intricate surgical procedures by making them an
exact replica of the organ that is being repaired
or replaced. These models can be made hollow or
solid within a few hours of the surgical
procedure. The particular application for FDM 3D
Printing is only bound by the imagination. Models
and working parts can be produced both quickly
and efficiently. There really is no limit to what
an FDM 3D Printer can do.
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The Success of FDM 3D Printing Hopefully, by now
you have seen the many benefits, and the huge
amount of success that FDM 3D Printing has
obtained as an add-on feature to the already
popular 3D printing services. With the added
industries becoming more aware of the benefits of
FDM 3D Printing, there really is no limit as to
what this industry can accomplish, in a short
timeframe. The amount of success achieved by FDM
3D Printing is rivaled by nothing or no one on
this planet. This seems to be the beginning of
an era with no end in sight for years to
come. FDM 3D Printing technology has become the
leading technology in the arena due
to ? Physical size. Most of the FDM 3D Printers
today can fit on a table-top. They are becoming
as commonplace as the traditional 2D printers
that we all have in our homes for printing
documents. Other 3D printing technology can
require spaces as large as a typical room to
produce quality parts. ? Low cost of printing
material. The specialized thermoplastic filaments
used in FDM 3D Printing has dropped drastically
in price making the number one consumable of FDM
3D Printers easily afforded by al. ? Easily
scale up or down. Earlier in this post we
mentioned the fact that FDM 3D Printing can
easily be scaled up or down, depending on how big
or small the gantry of the printer is at the
time of printing. FDM 3D Printing Service From
ARL Are you ready to see just how easy it is to
have your particular part or design go from
concept to the actual finished, highly accurate,
final product? All it takes to begin your FDM
3D Printing journey is a simple phone call or go
by the ARL website and know for yourself how easy
it is to have a quality FDM 3D Printer or any
other type of 3D printing service at your
disposal!