EDITOR ’ S CHOICE A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
3DPRINTUK
Optimising Outcomes with 3D Printing – Design for Additive Manufacturing ( Part 1 )
Complex 3D printed part designed by Komodo Simulations
Nick Allen , MD , 3DPRINTUK
In this 3-part series of articles , we will be considering the important issue of Design for Additive Manufacturing ( DfAM ). The series will start here in part 1 by addressing the evolution of product design to provide some context in terms of the state of the design industry when 3D printing first emerged and how both technology sets ( digital design and 3D printers ) have evolved alongside each other . This will provide a broad historical perspective illustrating how design processes today inform successful uptake of industrial 3D printing for a wide range of applications . Then , parts 2 and 3 of this series will go on to explore the intricacies of designing specifically for 3D printing , the advantages it offers over more traditional manufacturing processes and the pitfalls to avoid to achieve the most successful outcomes .
The history of 3D printing / additive
3D printed prototypes remain a universally accepted and dominant application of the technology set today .
manufacturing ( AM ) dates back almost 35 years and as a technology set it proved to be disruptive across many industrial sectors , and continues to evolve and disrupt to this day .
Back at the beginning , what is now referred to as AM or industrial 3D printing began its journey as a technology universally referred to as “ rapid prototyping ” or RP . This was because it was viewed as a technology that singularly allowed design engineers and manufacturers to easily , quickly and cheaply produce physical prototypes of their new products / components .
It is also pertinent to remember that back in the 1980 ’ s digital design was also still relatively new . Indeed , it was progress with 3D CAD that went some way to facilitating 3D printing itself . Product development — including design — is an iterative process , and getting a product from idea to manufacture involves a great many steps , often in a linear / circular way . This includes going through numerous iterations of a product to optimise it — factoring in market research feedback and manufacturability . Designing for the manufacturing process of choice has always been a thing .
When 3D printing really broke through as a means of rapid prototyping in the 1990 ’ s , it offered companies a viable and