NEDOSTATKY 3D TLAČE

… ALEBO AKO SME SA POZASTAVILI NAD 3D TLAČOU

Aby sme sa mohli na 3D tlač pozerať objektívne, rozhodli sme sa nezostať iba pri článku Výhody 3D tlače. Napriek tomu, že 3D tlač považujeme za technológiu budúcnosti, stále má svoje nedostatky a práve o tých chceme teraz rozprávať…
 
chyby 3D tlače
 

NÁROČNOSŤ PRÍPRAVY 3D MODELOV

Hneď v prvom bode síce nejde o nedostatok samotnej 3D tlače, avšak fakt, že každej 3D tlači predchádza 3D modelovanie je pre mnohých prekážkou. Nie každý vie pracovať v grafických softvéroch a pokiaľ aj áno, mnoho ľudí má problémy vymodelovať 3D objekt tak, aby bol uspôsobený na 3D tlač. 3D tlačiareň si s chybným 3D modelom nebude vedieť rady a vytlačí ho zle. Minie sa tým materiál, energia, čas aj peniaze. V lepšom prípade takýto model ani nevytlačí. Treba si preto modely vždy dôkladne skontrolovať, prípadne ich kontrolu či celé modelovanie nechať na profesionálov. Tento servis môže ísť v závislosti od náročnosti pomerne dosť do peňazí.

OBMEDZENÁ ŠKÁLA FARIEB PRI BEŽNE CENOVO DOSTUPNÝCH 3D TLAČIARNIACH

Hoci je materiálov používajúcich sa na 3D tlač neúrekom, ich farebnosť má stále svoje obmedzenia. Na Slovensku a v okolí je dokonca možná plnofarebná 3D tlač len pri jednom materáli, a to pri sádrovom kompozite.

NESTÁLOSŤ A LIMITY MATERIÁLOV

Mnoho materiálov využívajúcich sa na 3D tlač je nestálych. Plast PLA sa na slnku pokriví, fotopolyméru sa rozpadávajú chemické väzby pôsobením UV žiarenia, sádrový kompozit je veľmi krehký, elastické materiály môžu mať nedostatočnú pevnosť, priesvitné materiály sú síce priesvitné, ale nie priehľadné… Skrátka, stále je čo zlepšovať.

NÍZKY DETAIL PRI BEŽNE CENOVO DOSTUPNÝCH 3D TLAČIARNIACH

Vysoký detail je charakteristický najmä pri profesionálnych 3D tlačiarňach. Väčšina bežne cenovo dostupných strojov pracuje s nižšou presnosťou. Pokiaľ človeku záleží viac na iných charakteristikách objektu ako na jeho dizajne či vysokej presnosti, potom v tomto bode nevýhodu zrejme neuvidí.

OBMEDZENOSŤ VEĽKOSTI TLAČE V JEDNOM KUSE

Pri väčších modeloch, ktoré 3D tlačiareň nie je schopná vytlačiť v jednom kuse, je potrebné tlač realizovať na časti a tie následne zlepiť alebo inak spojiť. Táto práca môže byť pre mnohých náročná.

NEEKOLOGICKOSŤ BEŽNE DOSTUPNÝCH MATERIÁLOV

Hoci je mnoho stavebných, spájacích a finalizačných materiálov ekologických, asi najčastejšie používané cenovo dostupné plasty majú od ekologických ďaleko. 3D tlačené výrobky vo väčšine prípadov zároveň nie je možné recyklovať a teda využiť na ďalšiu 3D tlač. Môže sa nám ľahko stať, že si tak okolo seba nahromadíme množstvo zbytočností.

FINANČNÁ NÁROČNOSŤ KVANTITATÍVNEJ PRODUKCIE

Hoci je 3D tlač ideálnou a cenovo dostupnou technológiou prípravy na výrobu, samotná množstevná výroba pomocou 3D tlače je zatiaľ finanče veľmi náročná.

ČASOVÁ NÁROČNOSŤ KVANTITATÍVNEJ PRODUKCIE

Rovnako ako je pri množstevnej výrobe 3D tlač nevýhodná z hľadiska financí, tak je tomu i s časom. Opäť však platí, že 3D tlač je jednou z najrýchlejších metód prípravy pred samotnou výrobou.

NÍZKA SPOĽAHLIVOSŤ 3D TLAČIARNÍ

Tlačiarne sú zariadenia pracujúce s vysokou presnosťou, ale ich výkon je často nestabilný či už pri bežne cenovo dostupných, alebo pri profesionálnych strojoch. Rovnako vysoké je aj ich opotrebovávanie, čo si vyžaduje častý servis a ďalšie nečakané investície. Pred kúpou 3D tlačiarne je potrebné mať dostatočnú finančnú rezervu, nakoľko 3D tlačiareň je často z hľadiska údržby a nákupu materiálov nižšou nákladovou položkou samotnej služby 3D tlače.

RELATÍVNE KOMPLIKOVANÁ FINALIZÁCIA

Samotnou 3D tlačou nie vždy končí proces 3D tlače. Pri fotopolyméroch je potrebné objekty následne lakovať pre dosiahnutie vyššej stálosti, pri plastoch objekty “vydolovať” z podporného materiálu, pri kompozitovej tlači zase finalizovať lepidlom, voskom či epoxidom, čo si vyžaduje veľkú zručnosť.

FALZIFIKÁTY

3D tlač priniesla spolu s úžasnými možnosťami novým výrobkom aj hrozbu tým starým. Produkcia napodobením sa stáva pre bežných výrobcov postrachom. S tým sa už teraz mnohí snažia pasovať a trhu sa prispôsobujú napríklad online predajom 3D modelov svojich produktov.

HROZBA ZNEUŽITIA

Ak vložíte akúkoľvek technológiu do rúk ľudí, vždy sa nájde niekto, kto ju zneužije na nesprávne účely. Niektoré 3D tlačiarne sú schopné napríklad vytlačiť nebezpečné až ilegálne predmety akými sú funkčné zbrane, či dokonca drogy. Hoci je 3D tlač schopná našu životnú úroveň zvýšiť, môže ju aj ohroziť…

 
Ak ste sa aj vy stretli s nejakým nedostatkom 3D tlače, neváhajte a podeľte sa s nami. Na spätnú väzbu sme určite zvedaví.

Na základe niektorých reakcií na článok však musíme konštatovať, že podľa nášho názoru pozitíva tejto technológie výrazne prevažujú negatíva. Vývoj 3D tlače je extrémne rýchly a sme radi, že môžeme byť jej súčasťou už od jej zrodu.
 

Zdroje obrázkov: foundationdesign.co.nz, kvbusiness.com, thre3d.com, epic3dprintingfail.tumblr.com
 

11 komentárov
  1. I believe “NON-ECOLOGICAL COMMONLY AFFORDABLE MATERIALS” is the largest drawback to the 3D technology. Most common users are not experienced in design or maintenance of 3D printing and the output will end up in a dump. Every manufacturer of 3D printers should make it their highest priority to supply environmentally safe and affordable materials to users to protect our planet.

    James K McMahon 10 rokov ago Reply
    • James, thank you for your opinion. I trust this technology will use more and more of the green materials. There are some pretty amazing ones already.

      Barbora 10 rokov ago Reply
  2. This blanket indictment mainly applies to cheap FDM-type printers, not to 3D printing in general. It’s full of shaky assertions and half-baked conclusions. Let’s look at these points one by one:

    DEMANDING 3D MODELLING – Untrue – 3D printing can be done using 3D scans as well as with the products of CAD modeling. Also, people with printers can download models without having to make them themselves.

    LIMITED COLOUR RANGE OF THE COMMONLY AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTERS – There are some printers with full-color capabilities besides the ones that print in gypsum composite. The Mcor, for instance, which prints using ordinary paper as a feedstock, and the new ProJet, which prints in full color in plastic. These might not be within everyone’s price range or easily available in Slovakia, but that seems like an arbitrary standard to measure a whole industry by.

    VOLATILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF MATERIALS – There are no materials on the planet that don’t have limitations of one sort or another. There are 3D printers that can print in metals, ceramics, glass, chocolate, wax, plastics, sand, human cells- you name it, somebody has probably tried printing with it. There are printers, like the Form1+. that do a good job of printing clear material. Again, this is a generalization based on limited experience with a certain type of printer.

    LOW DETAIL OF THE COMMONLY AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTERS – Again, what’s “affordable” to one person can be considered cheap junk by another or out of reach by a third person. There certainly are 3D printers that can achieve astonishing detail, enough to be useful to jewelers, for instance, which aren’t incredibly expensive.

    LIMITED BUILD SIZE – There is no theoretical limit to how big a 3D printer can be. Yes, the cheapest machines tend to be small, but that’s true of most machinery. People have come up with printers that are big enough to build houses in concrete, and even FDM-style printers have been made with build envelopes that are quite large.

    NON-ECOLOGICAL COMMONLY AFFORDABLE MATERIALS – There’s really no standard for what can be considered “ecological”. Plastic has been demonized lately, but it can be made from plants as well as from petrochemicals. PLA (polylactic acid) is one of the most commonly used and affordable filaments, and it’s plant-based and biodegradable. I’ve seen prints made using sand as a feedstock and solar power to melt it; how much more ecological can you get?

    FINANCIAL DEMANDS AND DURATION OF QUANTITATIVE PRODUCTION – Certainly 3D printing is not as economical a method of producing simple plastic parts in quantity as, for instance, injection molding. But that’s more because it’s slow than because it’s inherently expensive. And there are other sorts of parts that are more costly and time-consuming to make by conventional methods than by 3D printing, owing to high mold costs and the complexity of assemblies that can be printed as one piece.

    LOW RELIABILITY OF 3D PRINTERS – Here is finally a valid point. Yes, these are complicated machines, and they do require more maintenance than most users expect when they buy them. This is true of expensive ones as well as cheap ones. But everyone who uses a 3D printer doesn’t have to buy or maintain one. This is a good reason to use service bureaus, not to avoid 3D printing altogether.

    RATHER COMPLICATED FINALIZATION – Some printed parts need further treatment after being made, others don’t need much at all. It really depends on what process was used, and what the intended use of the parts is. But this is true of anything one makes in any material by any method – if you make furniture by hand out of wood you normally still have to sand and varnish it.

    FALSIFICATIONS AND THREAT OF ABUSE – This has caused a lot of furor, but it’s entirely overblown. Yes, there has been a certain amount of “fan art” featuring licensed characters used without permission. The damage this has caused the license-holders has to be minimal at best. I don’t think any commercial products have been successfully pirated by this method, not least because the inherent “quantitative” limitations of the process mitigate against it. It’s been compared with the pirating of digital music and video, but there’s a crucial difference. While that sort of content can be effortlessly duplicated without loss, instantly replicated, and distributed online without shipment being necessary, not of these things apply to 3D printing. Perhaps the digital files that enable one to print a commercial product could be distributed that way, but anyone wanting to use it would have to print one of their own, and it likely wouldn’t be as good as the original, especially if they were using the “commonly affordable” printers we seem to have been discussing here. As for the printing of guns, this is pretty laughable, at least in the USA, where real guns outnumber citizens. It’s easy enough to come up with a gun that works better if you’ve got a piece of pipe and a rubber band. And nobody’s printing bullets anyway, any more than they are printing drugs…

    Andrew Werby
    http://www.computersculpture.com

    Andrew Werby 10 rokov ago Reply
    • Thank you Andrew for your opinion, you obviously understand the technology very well. It is always good to hear constructive criticism. However, I tried to point out the inconvenient facts that are bugging people about 3D printing in general and yes, you are right, mostly it applies to commonly affordable machines. As I stated in the beginning, we consider 3D printing a technology of the future, therefore I certainly don’t want to imply the technology isn’t good enough. As it is with any technology, it is “born“, it is not perfect, but it finds its way to “perfection“. I am looking forward to seeing it evolve and become a great part of our lives.

      DEMANDING 3D MODELLING – Very true, 3D printing can be done using 3D scans or downloaded 3D models. It is very helpful for many of us. However, I was talking only about the 3D modelling itself. Don’t you think it might be difficult for some people? In most cases people choose 3D printing to create completely new things and not something that has been done already. And that requires 3D modelling.

      LIMITED COLOUR RANGE OF THE COMMONLY AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTERS – I can see you have an excellent overview of 3D printers. I am aware of the full-colour paper and plastic 3D printers and yes, these are not within everyone’s price range. That is why this point implies to commonly affordable 3D printers. However, this technology evolves fast and these (and many others) might become affordable very soon. I am not arguing with that. I am happy about it.

      VOLATILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF MATERIALS – Sorry, did I say anything in the contrary of what you are saying? I totally agree with you. Constant innovations in materials suitable for 3D printing amaze me every day – I wrote about it in the previous article “Benefits of 3D printing“. Moreover, I agree with you on the great performance of the Form1+ machine and that is why we ordered it a few weeks ago. Only in a few days (or weeks – depends on the delivery time) our 3D printing studio will become its proud owner. However, I still think there is room for improvement for some materials to become more stable.

      LOW DETAIL OF THE COMMONLY AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTERS – Yes that is true, “affordable“ may be subjective, also “expensive“ and even “astonishing detail“ may be subjective. I mentioned the high detail in the previous article “Benefits of 3D printing“ but this one was intended to look at its drawbacks.

      LIMITED BUILD SIZE – I don’t deny there are machines big enough to 3D print certain things. These machines are especially designed for those objects (statues, buildings, etc.). However, most frequently used 3D printers have a certain build size which may cause problems to some people. I don’t take it as a terrible disadvantage, I take it as a possible inconvenience.

      NON-ECOLOGICAL COMMONLY AFFORDABLE MATERIALS – I agree with you there are super ecological materials, too. And I trust we all will use more and more of those.

      FINANCIAL DEMANDS AND DURATION OF QUANTITATIVE PRODUCTION – True, there is always something that can be more or less expensive this way or the other. However, generally speaking the 3D printing is in the comparison with standard technologies a more expensive technology as far as quantitative production is concerned. The best way is to know the capabilities of the technologies and combine them wisely.

      LOW RELIABILITY OF 3D PRINTERS – Yes, of course, not everyone who uses 3D printing has to necessarily own a 3D printer.

      RATHER COMPLICATED FINALIZATION – You are right. Did I write anything in the contrary?

      FALSIFICATIONS AND THREAT OF ABUSE – As I said – if you put any technology into the hands of people, there is always someone who misuses it for wrong purposes.

      Thank you again, Andrew, for your sound comments and for the time you devoted to this discussion. I am happy there are people defending this technology so profoundly, even though I never meant to offend it. I am amazed by 3D printing as much as you are.

      Barbora 10 rokov ago Reply
  3. Kudos to you!
    Yes the climb is still in the uphill position as far as 3D as we would like it .I,m a traditional mold maker and have tried the various types of 3-D printing and yes our technology needs to better improve due to the complexity of designs we search for.I still make sure to measure 2wice but cut once! I await for the technology to settle down and conform to the needs of the designers as well as the mold makers,hopefully in giving a lasting and accurate product to our clients as they expect.
    Have a blessed Day!

    Joe Hinojosa 10 rokov ago Reply
    • Thanks Joe, you too and good luck with your work!

      Barbora 10 rokov ago Reply
  4. Barbora,
    That was an interesting article. The 3D printer is not a ‘cure all’ solution, it is a great step bringing a manufacturing facility into the home. Not many people can have such access to a plastic injection molding machine or a press tool. You make an interesting point about the use of CAD 3D modelling a a prerequisite to a successful models. This is absolutely true, but a perfect 3d model may not print. The parameters with which we can design in order to achieve a good quality model change from machine to machine and process to process (FDM, SLS etc.) and these change constantly as the technology evolves. Please bear in mind that 3D designs create the tooling for plastic injection moldings as well as the moldings themselves. It is simplest method to convert ideas into information. For me, I believe that this method of manufacture without having to make tools to create a component has an interesting future. It is allowing us to create designs that previously would have been very difficult or nearly impossible to make. Regards David.

    David Collister 10 rokov ago Reply
    • Hi David, thanks for expressing your thoughts. Yes you are right about the 3D models. 3D models that are modelled correctly but have extremely thin walls may be problematic to print for some machines, for example. As you said, 3D printing is not a “cure all” solution. At the moment it is an amazing technology to “cure a lot” and even in the world of molding.

      Barbora 10 rokov ago Reply
  5. i learn the 3d printinng world and from my point of view , i can tell thats you have to know that every technology have its own good and bad yes that is true that this “born new technology” (this thechnology is here since the 80’s we just waited that paents will expired) it is expencive and to slow to print right now but in time its wil all be changed .
    the real money for the companies is in the metarials and they are spending a lot of time and affort that it will be “suitable” to the machine (i have to add that from what i saw so far is that same old marketing trick that if you use other material you will lose your insuranced and that you wont get any service from the company because you used an unsuitable material , some of them its true in home 3d printint not sure)
    mean while we will just have to know what we want that from our 3d printed object will be and whats its target because this is a major question because it reveal to us the answer in wich technology we want to use and also wich materials (every thechnology has its own benefits and disadvantage as i said )
    for example one technology use more metarial and you will need more spend on supports and the other dont need that support as i said good and bad :)
    it wil save us time and money well dont know about the time the time will tell :-)

    shay erz 9 rokov ago Reply
  6. Shay, I agree,,, however the tech has been here since the very late 60’s and the 70’s. I used my first one in the 80’s like you. When techs become more affordable they tend to become more mainstream. Then everyone believes they are “new”. And whomever is stating that the “ECO” portion is the worst drawback, has never designed a system or a software, dare I say never built anything in their lives. I work at HP and Sony for decades. There are more drawbacks than ECO. There are very good things that will be developed because of your discussion and I thank you for putting this up. The negatives, is how we learn to improve the systems.

    Darth Vader 9 rokov ago Reply
  7. All you mentioned are today’s limitation, rather the inability to educate everyone on this technology, imagine in 1970’s the same article would have been talking on the demerits of computers and future use.

    When a technology revolution takes place, there is a lean period to get used among common users.

    We should be aware that. Lab level printers are doing tremendous research on all areas that we can’t even, imagine.

    Material science is developing like anything.

    For any further info, please reach me .

    Thanks and regards,

    PP

    Pingnagan 8 rokov ago Reply

Napísať odpoveď pre Darth Vader Zrušiť odpoveď