甘比英文拓展写作-3D printer-Maia

3D打印技术是怎么实现的

3D打印机的种类、原材料、构成、组件、不同颜色、完成作品的用时、发展前景

3D printers by Chris Woodford. Last updated: March 16, 2016. Even the best artists struggle to show us what real-world objects look like in all their three- dimensional (3D) glory. Most of the time that doesn't matter—looking at a photo or sketch gives us a good-enough idea. But if you're in the business of developing new products and you need to show them off to clients or customers, nothing beats having a prototype: a model you can touch, hold, and feel. Only trouble is, models take ages to make by hand and machines that can make "rapid prototypes" cost a fortune (up to a half million dollars). Hurrah, then for 3D printers, which work a bit like inkjets and build up 3D models layer by layer at up to 10 times the speed and a fifth the cost. How exactly do they work? Let's take a closer look! Photo: A B9CreatorTM—a typical low-cost, DIY 3D printer. Other popular 3D printer makes include Z Corporation, Stratasys, Objet Geometries, and Dimension uPrint. Photo by courtesy of Windell H. Oskay, www.evilmadscientist.com, published on Flickr in 2012 under a Creative Commons Licence. From hand-made prototypes to rapid prototyping Before there were such things as computer-aided design (CAD) and lasers, models and prototypes were laboriously carved from wood or stuck together from little pieces of card or plastic. They could take days or even weeks to make and typically cost a fortune. Getting changes or alterations made was difficult and time-consuming, especially if an outside model-making company was being used, and that could discourage designers from making improvements or taking last-minute comments onboard: "It's too late!" Photo: A high-quality rapid prototype of a space plane made in wax from a CAD drawing by NASA. Photo courtesy of NASA Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC).