{"id":1503,"date":"2014-11-28T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2015-09-16T15:57:15","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T20:57:15","slug":"pe-3d-printing-not-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/1503\/pe-3d-printing-not-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"3D Printing: Not as simple as it looks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3DPrintingSM\"By Matt Pasha, Digital Manufacturing Technologies, UL<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve seen it in the news. Perhaps the technology is already in your work place, local library or child\u2019s school. 3D printing<\/a>, also known as additive manufacturing, is growing at an incredible pace. 3D printing is now impacting consumer, commercial and industrial markets. However, a perception exists among newcomers to the technology that printing a design is as simple as pressing a button.<\/p>\n

Paul Bates, UL\u2019s Lead Development Engineer for 3D printing and 20-plus year 3D printing industry veteran, provides an answer that is quite the contrary. \u201cThere are numerous variables and factors to consider regardless of the print material or print process you\u2019re using,\u201d said Bates. \u201cBut,\u201d he continued, \u201cIt all comes down to your knowledge and understanding of the four phases of the printing process.\u201d<\/p>\n

At their most basic, the four phases of the 3D printing process, and their related considerations, include the following.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. File Preparation:<\/strong> Are you scanning an object or designing in CAD?<\/li>\n
  2. Preparation for Printing:<\/strong> Is your .STL file printable? Did you properly repair any design flaws? Is the material and selected printer appropriate for your design?<\/li>\n
  3. Printing:<\/strong> Is the printer clean and prepared to run the print? Is the printer calibrated properly? Is the printer\u2019s machine setting optimized for your design?<\/li>\n
  4. Post Processing:<\/strong> To what degree is post processing necessary for your part? Support-material removal? Sanding? Curing? Painting?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cThe more you know about the strengths and limitations of the processes and technology, the more successful you\u2019ll be when creating 3D-printed parts,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n

    Want to learn more? UL now offers an interactive four-module online course that presents comprehensive introductory knowledge of the 3D printing industry. Foundations of 3D Printing,<\/em> UL\u2019s initial offering within its 3D Printing education and training program, is currently available at the introductory rate of $249.<\/p>\n

    To learn more about Foundations of 3D Printing, <\/em>please see the Course Description<\/a>. To learn more about UL\u2019s 3D Printing service, please visit ul.com\/3dp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Matt Pasha, Digital Manufacturing Technologies, UL You\u2019ve seen it in the news. Perhaps the technology is already in your work place, local library or child\u2019s school. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is growing at an incredible pace. … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":1505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1237],"class_list":{"0":"post-1503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plastics-2","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n3D Printing: Not as simple as it looks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/1503\/pe-3d-printing-not-simple\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3D Printing: Not as simple as it looks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Matt Pasha, Digital Manufacturing Technologies, UL You\u2019ve seen it in the news. 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