Pros, cons, and their effects on society
Positives
Customization-
3D printing allows a full range of personalization. People can create ideas of their own, make a model of it on a modeling program, send it to the printer and have their idea be an actual object. This can be exceptionally useful for our creative sides, artists who work with sculptures, decorating your house with just the perfect items, creating personalized gifts, and much more.
Prototyping time-
Working with modeling software is a bit difficult as of right now; the software is hard to get the hang of. However, when these programs become easier to use, which is already in the works, there are clear benefits. Engineer's making prototypes of items have to wait weeks or months to get an item created for them by the traditional means, but with the introduction of 3D printers in the workplace, Engineers can print these blueprints in hours or at most, days.
Cost-
Set up prices for additive printing may be high as of right now, but day by day, this technology is getting cheaper and cheaper. As 3D printers become more and more present in average day households, the price of them go down, making the hardware easier on the wallet. Some 3D printers cost near 50,000 dollars as of right now, but these are the higher grade professional ones that are designed to revolutionize the medical industry, not for home use. A few companies exist that create relatively cheap home printing systems such as, Solidoodle, Cube, and 3D Systems, to name a couple. However, as time progresses, additive printing will slowly be integrated into society as an item that the common man can use. At the moment, creating a personalized piece costs the same as getting a product from mass production.
medicinal use-
As previously mentioned, pharmaceutical companies are gearing towards using 3D printers for medicinal purposes. This would include making blueprints on a molecular level so people at home could simply print the medicine that they need, printing models of a patient's organ to experiment on it instead of jeopardizing the patient's, creating prosthetics for people with missing components, etc.
3D printing allows a full range of personalization. People can create ideas of their own, make a model of it on a modeling program, send it to the printer and have their idea be an actual object. This can be exceptionally useful for our creative sides, artists who work with sculptures, decorating your house with just the perfect items, creating personalized gifts, and much more.
Prototyping time-
Working with modeling software is a bit difficult as of right now; the software is hard to get the hang of. However, when these programs become easier to use, which is already in the works, there are clear benefits. Engineer's making prototypes of items have to wait weeks or months to get an item created for them by the traditional means, but with the introduction of 3D printers in the workplace, Engineers can print these blueprints in hours or at most, days.
Cost-
Set up prices for additive printing may be high as of right now, but day by day, this technology is getting cheaper and cheaper. As 3D printers become more and more present in average day households, the price of them go down, making the hardware easier on the wallet. Some 3D printers cost near 50,000 dollars as of right now, but these are the higher grade professional ones that are designed to revolutionize the medical industry, not for home use. A few companies exist that create relatively cheap home printing systems such as, Solidoodle, Cube, and 3D Systems, to name a couple. However, as time progresses, additive printing will slowly be integrated into society as an item that the common man can use. At the moment, creating a personalized piece costs the same as getting a product from mass production.
medicinal use-
As previously mentioned, pharmaceutical companies are gearing towards using 3D printers for medicinal purposes. This would include making blueprints on a molecular level so people at home could simply print the medicine that they need, printing models of a patient's organ to experiment on it instead of jeopardizing the patient's, creating prosthetics for people with missing components, etc.
Reduced Warehousing-
Subtractive manufacturing, what is typically used right now, requires products to be shipped from the factory the product was produced at to storage warehouses. 3D printing, however, would be versatile and be able to skip the shipping and warehousing steps. These printers would allow businesses to download blueprints and print them right then and there, opposed to in factories across seas.
Subtractive manufacturing, what is typically used right now, requires products to be shipped from the factory the product was produced at to storage warehouses. 3D printing, however, would be versatile and be able to skip the shipping and warehousing steps. These printers would allow businesses to download blueprints and print them right then and there, opposed to in factories across seas.
Negatives
Just like every technology, additive printing is a double edged sword. Some of the Cons associated with 3D printing include;
Energy Consumption-
While 3D printers reduce general waste from the subtractive manufacturing used right now, additive printing still requires almost outlandish amounts of energy to operate. 3D printers melt plastics with heat or lasers. This process requires 50 to 100 times more energy than normal manufacturing, for an item of the same weight, which will be costly.
Air Emissions-
As 3D printing begins to take the world by storm, questions are starting to raise about health risks if they become used in everyday homes. A study conducted at the Illinois Institute of Technology tested emissions from 3D printers, and it found striking results. ABS, or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, one of two most popular plastics used emits 200 billion particles per minute of extremely fine particles. PLA, polylactic acid, the other popularly used plastic, emits a lesser but still outstanding 20 billion particles per minute into the air. These particles pose health concerns because these particles can settle into bloodstreams and the lungs.
Plastic Reliance-
The most common and cheap materials that are used by 3D printers are plastics. An already persistent problem is our reliance on plastics right now. With the introduction of 3D printers in industry, our reliance on plastics will increase sharply. On the bright side ,however, the plastics are thermoplastics, meaning that they are heated up and used. Thermoplastics can be heated down into a usable state from just about anything, so a form of recycling does exist. The only problem would be that the cycle is not infinite. Plastics become depolymerized and are unable to be reused after.
Gun Control Loopholes-
Printed guns in the world of additive printing are nothing to write home about, but yet companies are trying to harness the 3D printer to sell printed guns or the CAD designs for them to print at home. An Engineering firm has even testing rounds on a metal printed gun already. Despite Congress passing an act against undetectable firearms, or guns that cannot be detected by x-ray or metal detectors, there still stands a flaw. 3D printed guns that contain a little scrap of metal in them can wiggle by. However, legislators are trying to fix this problem by closing the loophole.
Energy Consumption-
While 3D printers reduce general waste from the subtractive manufacturing used right now, additive printing still requires almost outlandish amounts of energy to operate. 3D printers melt plastics with heat or lasers. This process requires 50 to 100 times more energy than normal manufacturing, for an item of the same weight, which will be costly.
Air Emissions-
As 3D printing begins to take the world by storm, questions are starting to raise about health risks if they become used in everyday homes. A study conducted at the Illinois Institute of Technology tested emissions from 3D printers, and it found striking results. ABS, or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, one of two most popular plastics used emits 200 billion particles per minute of extremely fine particles. PLA, polylactic acid, the other popularly used plastic, emits a lesser but still outstanding 20 billion particles per minute into the air. These particles pose health concerns because these particles can settle into bloodstreams and the lungs.
Plastic Reliance-
The most common and cheap materials that are used by 3D printers are plastics. An already persistent problem is our reliance on plastics right now. With the introduction of 3D printers in industry, our reliance on plastics will increase sharply. On the bright side ,however, the plastics are thermoplastics, meaning that they are heated up and used. Thermoplastics can be heated down into a usable state from just about anything, so a form of recycling does exist. The only problem would be that the cycle is not infinite. Plastics become depolymerized and are unable to be reused after.
Gun Control Loopholes-
Printed guns in the world of additive printing are nothing to write home about, but yet companies are trying to harness the 3D printer to sell printed guns or the CAD designs for them to print at home. An Engineering firm has even testing rounds on a metal printed gun already. Despite Congress passing an act against undetectable firearms, or guns that cannot be detected by x-ray or metal detectors, there still stands a flaw. 3D printed guns that contain a little scrap of metal in them can wiggle by. However, legislators are trying to fix this problem by closing the loophole.
Ethics-
It may seem odd to question the ethics of printing but this is geared towards bioprinting. Bioprinting is when people attempt to print organic substances, such as liver cells and eye tissue cells. This field is still in the works, cartilage still being the most practical and realistic form of bioprinting; printing whole organs is many years away from today. However, 3D printing is growing rapidly in medicinal fields, and bioprinting raises questions of ethics and morality.
Safety-
Surprisingly enough, Additive manufacturing raises some safety red flags that wouldn't normally be thought of. For instance, the most popular plastic, ABS, is not BPA-free, so printed silverware and etc. would pose threats if eaten off of. Along these lines, 3D printers themselves are a great place for bacteria to grow, if not cleaned properly of course, so any engineered food poses a risk as well. Another possible safety risk would be the possibility of printing illegal drugs such as cocaine or the very deadly ricin. Chemical compounds can be assembled at a molecular level with additive printing, and while this will revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by allowing people to buy and print medicine at home, it can also be used to print these hazardous materials.
It may seem odd to question the ethics of printing but this is geared towards bioprinting. Bioprinting is when people attempt to print organic substances, such as liver cells and eye tissue cells. This field is still in the works, cartilage still being the most practical and realistic form of bioprinting; printing whole organs is many years away from today. However, 3D printing is growing rapidly in medicinal fields, and bioprinting raises questions of ethics and morality.
Safety-
Surprisingly enough, Additive manufacturing raises some safety red flags that wouldn't normally be thought of. For instance, the most popular plastic, ABS, is not BPA-free, so printed silverware and etc. would pose threats if eaten off of. Along these lines, 3D printers themselves are a great place for bacteria to grow, if not cleaned properly of course, so any engineered food poses a risk as well. Another possible safety risk would be the possibility of printing illegal drugs such as cocaine or the very deadly ricin. Chemical compounds can be assembled at a molecular level with additive printing, and while this will revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by allowing people to buy and print medicine at home, it can also be used to print these hazardous materials.