The shiny chrome surface, embossed with the lightning bolt logo of his beloved San Diego Chargers, covers the calf area of his prosthetic leg, the result of a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2010.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

At the naval hospital where he was recovering from his wounds and the resulting surgery, Sullivan ran into entrepreneur Scott Summit, who suggested a solution to covering the metal rod that protruded conspicuously from his knee.

• web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com
  PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of a 3D printing plant

Summit\'s firm, Bespoke Innovations, uses an obscure process known as 3D printing to make durable thermoplastic leg coverings, or fairings. By digitally scanning the surviving leg to match its shape and form, Bespoke produces curved panels resembling soccer shin pads that cover the artificial limb. You can often tell a person has a prosthetic leg by the way the pants leg flaps, Sullivan says. "Having that symmetry now, you can\'t tell the difference."web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Thanks to the Internet and declining hardware costs, 3D printing — once a specialized process used sparingly by industrial companies for prototyping — is becoming more common among design hobbyists and entrepreneurs such as Summit.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

The consumer market\'s embrace of the technology has been swift. Sales for all 3D printing products and services worldwide grew 24% to $1.33 billion in 2010, fueled in part by a fast-growing market of do-it-yourselfers, says industry research firm Wohlers Associates.

The firm also estimates sales will continue to post "strong double-digit growth" in the next several years, reaching about $3.1 billion by 2016 from an estimated $1.6 billion this year.

Here\'s how 3D printing generally works: Once a product is designed on software, the file is sent to a special 3D printer that contains a spool (or cartridge) of a material — typically, plastic, metal or ceramics — in a fine powder or gel-like texture. Like printing on paper, the 3D printer lays down successive layers of the material and builds up until an object emerges. It\'s then cleaned, painted or cooled.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

"It\'s like a hot glue gun. Think of it as building from strings of spaghetti glue," explains Jim Kor, a Canadian engineer who has printed the exterior panels of a fuel-efficient concept car, the Urbee, with the help of Stratasys, a Minnesota company that is a 3D printing technology pioneer.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Traditional manufacturing, involving injection molding or die casting, generally produces better results for making parts in large volumes. Experts caution that 3D printers, particularly entry-level models, can produce rough finishing and imprecise details, and raw materials may be expensive.

But proponents say the technology enables on-demand parts production, eliminates assembly lines, reduces inventory and is a speedier process for making objects or parts that don\'t require precise detailing.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

The technology is already prevalent in industrial manufacturing. Boeing prints some air duct parts for its planes. Invisalign\'s teeth aligners are printed, as are hearing aid shells by Starkey Laboratories in Minnesota.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

"You have freedom of creation. You can do almost anything," says Terry Wohlers of Wohlers Associates.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Some innovators are determined to prove that theory. Anthony Atala, a professor at theWake Forest University School of Medicine, is something of a cult figure in 3D printing with his research on printing human organs. Using living human cells and a special gel that binds them, he has printed a human bladder that is in a clinical trial.

Big ideas, small scale

3D printing has bred a cottage industry of entrepreneurs who see business opportunities in making products for customers — jewelry, toys, home decor and clothing — who otherwise have no access to customized, small-scale manufacturing.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Want to make a toy robot for your third-grader? MyRobotNation.com, which specializes in 3D-printed toy robots, has design software and a product ordering page on its website.

Need a good use for a mountain of Lego Duplo blocks? Thingiverse.com, a website where product designers share their designs for others to use, features small plastic connectors that link the blocks to toy train sets. Using the connector, Duplo blocks can be built as a bridge tower or train depot.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Thingiverse founder Bre Pettis says the Duplo connectors may be the most unusual objects on his site. The 15,000 designs attest to the creativity and diversity of interests of its users, he says. "The possibilities are endless."

The emergence of hobbyists has been a blessing in new sales possibilities for printer makers. Printer prices vary widely, ranging from sub-$1,000 models that require assembly at home to $500,000 products used by industrial companies. 3D printers and raw materials are generally purchased online or through resellers.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

But printer prices are coming down as makers increasingly eye the casual-user market. Company 3D Systems created much buzz at the recent Consumer Electronic Show with Cube, a desktop 3D printer aimed at home users. At $1,300, it\'s one of the cheapest fully assembled printers, says CEO Abe Reichental.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

He says a third of the company\'s 2011 research-and-development budget was poured into the consumer market. "We think that\'s the big part of the future," he says. "The technology is finally affordable."

Fueling the popularity of 3D printing is the fact that the software, once intimidating to casual hobbyists, is becoming cheaper and easier to use. You no longer need to spend hundreds of dollars for high-end computer-aided design software. Some websites — 3DTin, Tinkercad, Google\'s SketchUp and Autodesk\'s 123Dapp.com — allow users to design directly online. Sites such as m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com require little design skill.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Software is improving in other areas, as well. Bespoke\'s Summit says scanning an amputee\'s surviving leg once required a heavy scanner, and was a cumbersome and costly task.

But Bespoke recently switched to a new Autodesk program that allows scanning with a simple point-and-shoot camera. "It went from exotic wizardry to common camera. And it\'s made the process a lot easier," Summit says.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Another catalyst for the do-it-yourself movement is the variety of software and printer plans available online for individuals to use and modify as they see fit. RepRap, a free desktop 3D-printer kit that users have downloaded to build their own printers, is one example.

Three years ago, Pettis founded MakerBot, a company that makes printers based on RepRap\'s designs. It has sold about 10,000 printers in the U.S. since 2009, he says.

Fast results for small orders

3D printing has also fueled a boom in small businesses, such as Shapeways and Ponoko, that promise customers quick-turnaround printing for small orders.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

Sarah Stocker and her business partner, Mark Danks, opened MyRobotNation last year to leverage their work experience in the video gaming industry. On their site, customers can log on to design robots and order a finished product — ranging from 2-inch ($18) to 6-inch ($170) — that are 3D printed. "It\'s basically like playing a video game," Danks says.

Entrepreneurs with limited resources, such as designer Jeff Bare, are increasingly using online service companies such as Shapeways, which prints uploaded designs and lets members open virtual stores on the site where they pay a fee for each item they sell.

Bare, a furniture designer by day, began designing a cover for the iPad three months before it was introduced in April 2010. With an estimate of iPad dimensions, he printed a prototype. After making adjustments, he was ready to sell his covers when iPad was launched. The first cover, made of polyimide (nylon-based plastic), sold a month later for $30.

Bare is one of 120,000 users of Shapeways, based in New York. Shapeways printed 750,000 products last year, ranging from jewelry (a popular category) to phone accessories. "In China, you have to order thousands. (Here), you can order one or two," says Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen. "The risk of doing business goes down to absolutely zero."

Despite its potential, 3D-printing technology does not yet pose a serious threat to traditional manufacturing.web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

When you look closely, printing traces are visible on items printed by low-end printers, Wohlers says, and 3D printing isn\'t ideal for large-volume orders that need to be turned around quickly. While printer prices are coming down, the materials cost is still "relatively expensive," says Autodesk CEO Carl Bass. For example, ABS plastic — used often for its durability — when packed into spools of a 3D printer can be "a couple of hundred times more expensive" than the raw material, Bass says.

Despite the technology\'s shortcomings, its proponents liken it to the microwave oven in the early \'80s, a curious appliance not quite ready for prime time but with the potential to become indispensable. web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com 

中文翻譯： web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com 
 

閃亮的鍍鉻表面，與他心愛的閃電標(biāo)志的浮雕圣迭戈充電器，涵蓋了他的假腿，結(jié)果于2010年在阿富汗路邊炸彈的腿肚部位。

沙利文在海軍醫(yī)院，在那里他從他的傷口，導(dǎo)致手術(shù)中恢復(fù)，跑進(jìn)企業(yè)家斯科特首腦會(huì)議上，他提出了一個(gè)解決方案，涵蓋從他的膝蓋明顯突出的金屬棒。

• 三維印刷廠的場(chǎng)景：照片背后web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

首腦會(huì)議上的堅(jiān)定，定制的創(chuàng)新，使用一個(gè)不起眼的過程被稱為3D印刷耐用的熱塑性腿覆蓋，或整流罩。通過數(shù)字掃描尚存的腿，以配合其形狀和形式，定制生產(chǎn)弧形板，類似足球護(hù)腿板，涵蓋了假肢。你經(jīng)?？梢愿嬖V一個(gè)人有一個(gè)假腿的褲子腿皮瓣的方式，沙利文說。“現(xiàn)在有了這樣的對(duì)稱性，你可以不知道其中的差別。”

由于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和硬件成本下降，3D印刷 - 一旦一個(gè)專門的過程，有節(jié)制地使用工業(yè)公司為原型 - 正在變得越來越普遍設(shè)計(jì)愛好者和企業(yè)家，如首腦會(huì)議。

消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)的懷抱的技術(shù)已經(jīng)迅速。所有的3D印刷產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)的全球銷售額增長(zhǎng)了24％，在2010年13.3億美元，部分是因?yàn)榭焖僭鲩L(zhǎng)的市場(chǎng)的做自己動(dòng)手，說行業(yè)研究公司沃勒斯Associates的。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

該公司還預(yù)計(jì)銷售將繼續(xù)發(fā)布“強(qiáng)兩位數(shù)的增長(zhǎng)”在未來幾年內(nèi)，2016年達(dá)到約3.1億美元，今年估計(jì)為1.6億美元。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

這里是如何三維打印一般工作：一旦產(chǎn)品是軟件設(shè)計(jì)，該文件被發(fā)送到1特殊的3D打印機(jī)包含1材料的閥芯（或墨盒） - 通常情況下，塑料，金屬或陶瓷 - 1細(xì)粉末或凝膠般的質(zhì)感。3D打印機(jī)打印紙一樣，奠定了連續(xù)層的材料，并建立直到有一個(gè)對(duì)象出現(xiàn)。它然后清洗，油漆或冷卻。

“它是像1熱膠槍。想想它的面條膠字符串的建設(shè)，”解釋吉姆韓，1加拿大工程師誰已經(jīng)印刷與Stratasys公司的幫助省油的概念車，在Urbee，在外觀面板，明尼蘇達(dá)州的一家公司，它是一個(gè)三維打印技術(shù)的先驅(qū)。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

一般傳統(tǒng)的制造業(yè)，涉及注塑，壓鑄，產(chǎn)生更好的結(jié)果為使大量的零件。專家警告說，3D打印機(jī)，尤其是入門級(jí)車型，可以產(chǎn)生粗糙的整理和不精確的細(xì)節(jié)，可能是昂貴的原料。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

但是，支持者說，該技術(shù)可以讓按需零件生產(chǎn)，消除了裝配生產(chǎn)線，降低庫存，使物體或零件，不需要精確的細(xì)節(jié)，是加快過程。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

該技術(shù)已在工業(yè)生產(chǎn)中普遍存在。波音飛機(jī)打印一些風(fēng)管部件。Invisalign的的牙齒對(duì)準(zhǔn)印刷，聽到在明尼蘇達(dá)州的斯達(dá)克實(shí)驗(yàn)室援助炮彈。

“你有創(chuàng)作的自由，你幾乎可以做任何事情，說：”特里·沃勒斯Associates的沃勒斯。

一些創(chuàng)新的決心證明這一理論，在維克森林大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院的教授安東尼·阿塔拉，是一個(gè)邪教組織在與他的研究上打印人體器官的三維印刷圖的東西。使用人類活細(xì)胞和一種特殊的凝膠結(jié)合，他已經(jīng)印制了人類的膀胱，在臨床試驗(yàn)中。

大思路，小規(guī)模web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

三維打印孕育了山寨行業(yè)的企業(yè)家們看到商機(jī)，在為客戶的產(chǎn)品 - 珠寶，玩具，家居裝飾和服裝 - 否則誰沒有訪問定制的，小規(guī)模生產(chǎn)。

要讓你的三年級(jí)一個(gè)玩具機(jī)器人嗎？MyRobotNation.com，專門在3D印刷玩具機(jī)器人，在其網(wǎng)站上設(shè)計(jì)軟件和產(chǎn)品訂購頁面。

需要很好地利用了山樂高得寶塊呢？Thingiverse.com，產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)師分享他們的設(shè)計(jì)，以供他人使用的一個(gè)網(wǎng)站，設(shè)有小塑料連接器，玩具火車組連接塊。使用連接器，可建得寶塊作為一個(gè)橋塔或火車車廠。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

thingiverse創(chuàng)始人BRE佩蒂斯說：“得寶連接器可能是他的網(wǎng)站上最不尋常的對(duì)象。15,000設(shè)計(jì)證明的創(chuàng)造力和多樣性及其用戶的利益，“他說。“可能性是無窮無盡的。”web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

出現(xiàn)的愛好者一直在祝福新的銷售打印機(jī)制造商的可能性。打印機(jī)的價(jià)格千差萬別，從分1000美元的模式，需要在家里組裝到工業(yè)企業(yè)所使用的產(chǎn)品500,000美元不等。3D打印機(jī)和原材料一般在網(wǎng)上購買或通過經(jīng)銷商。

但打印機(jī)的價(jià)格正在下降廠商越來越多眼休閑用戶市場(chǎng)。公司3D系統(tǒng)在最近創(chuàng)建的嗡嗡聲立方，針對(duì)家庭用戶的桌面三維打印機(jī)的消費(fèi)電子展。首席執(zhí)行官說，安倍晉三Reichental 1300美元，這是完全組裝的最便宜的打印機(jī)之一。

他說，2011年該公司的研究和開發(fā)預(yù)算的三分之一，被澆成的消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)。“我們認(rèn)為這是未來的很大一部分，”他說。“這項(xiàng)技術(shù)終于負(fù)擔(dān)得起的。”

3D印刷的普及推波助瀾的是該軟件，一旦恐嚇休閑愛好者，正變得更便宜和更容易使用的事實(shí)。您不再需要花費(fèi)數(shù)百美元，高端計(jì)算機(jī)輔助設(shè)計(jì)軟件。有些網(wǎng)站 - 3DTin，Tinkercad，谷歌的SketchUp和Autodesk的123Dapp.com - 允許用戶直接在網(wǎng)上設(shè)計(jì)。如m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com網(wǎng)站幾乎不需要設(shè)計(jì)技巧。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

軟件是提高在其他領(lǐng)域，以及。定制的首腦會(huì)議上說，掃描一次截肢者的尚存腿沉重的掃描儀，是一個(gè)繁瑣和昂貴的任務(wù)。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

但最近定制切換到一個(gè)新的Autodesk程序，可以用一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的點(diǎn)和傻瓜相機(jī)掃描。“從異國(guó)情調(diào)的巫術(shù)常見的攝像頭。和它的過程輕松了許多，”高峰說。

為做它，自己運(yùn)動(dòng)的另一個(gè)催化劑是各種軟件和打印機(jī)網(wǎng)上提供個(gè)人使用和修改，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為合適的計(jì)劃。一個(gè)免費(fèi)的桌面3D打印機(jī)套件，用戶下載，以建立自己的打印機(jī)，RepRap，就是一個(gè)例子。

三年前，佩蒂斯MakerBot，RepRap的設(shè)計(jì)的基礎(chǔ)上，使打印機(jī)的公司成立。它已經(jīng)售出約10000打印機(jī)在美國(guó)自2009年以來，他說。

小訂單的快速結(jié)果web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

3D打印也助長(zhǎng)Shapeways和Ponoko如小企業(yè)的熱潮中，保證客戶快速周轉(zhuǎn)印刷小批量訂單。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

薩拉·斯托克和她的生意伙伴，馬克Danks，打開MyRobotNation去年利用其在視頻游戲行業(yè)的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)。在其網(wǎng)站上，客戶可以登錄到設(shè)計(jì)機(jī)器人和成品 - 從2英寸（18美元）到6英寸（$ 170） - 這是3D印刷。Danks說：“它基本上是喜歡玩視頻游戲，”。

與有限的資源，如設(shè)計(jì)師杰夫裸，企業(yè)家越來越多地使用Shapeways，打印上傳的設(shè)計(jì)，讓成員在網(wǎng)站上開設(shè)虛擬商店，在那里他們支付的費(fèi)用為每一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，他們賣的，如在線服務(wù)公司。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

光禿禿的，一天天的家具設(shè)計(jì)師，開始為iPad 3個(gè)月的封面設(shè)計(jì)，然后才在2010年4月推出。他估計(jì)iPad的尺寸，印刷原型。作出調(diào)整后，他準(zhǔn)備賣掉他的封面時(shí)，iPad的推出。第一蓋，聚酰亞胺（尼龍基塑料），賣30元一個(gè)月后。

裸是120,000 Shapeways用戶之一，根據(jù)紐約。shapeways印制了75萬的產(chǎn)品，去年，從珠寶（一種流行的類），手機(jī)配件。“在中國(guó)，你不得不下令數(shù)千（在這里），您可以訂購一個(gè)或兩個(gè)，說：”Shapeways首席執(zhí)行官彼得Weijmarshausen。“做生意的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)下降到絕對(duì)為零。”web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

盡管它的潛力，3D印刷技術(shù)還不傳統(tǒng)制造業(yè)構(gòu)成嚴(yán)重威脅。

當(dāng)你仔細(xì)一看，印刷痕跡，可見低端打印機(jī)打印的項(xiàng)目上，沃勒斯說，三維打印是不適合于大批量訂貨，需要迅速轉(zhuǎn)身。歐特克首席執(zhí)行官卡爾·巴斯說，“雖然打印機(jī)的價(jià)格正在下降，原材料成本仍是”相對(duì)昂貴。例如，ABS塑料 - 經(jīng)常用于其耐用性 - 包裝成一個(gè)3D打印機(jī)的線軸時(shí)，可以是“一對(duì)夫婦更昂貴百倍”比原材料，巴斯說。web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com

盡管該3D技術(shù)的缺點(diǎn)，它的支持者把它比作微波爐在80年代初，一個(gè)奇怪的家電不太為黃金時(shí)間做好準(zhǔn)備，但有潛力成為不可或缺的。（web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com）web3D納金網(wǎng)m.trusteddivorcelawyers.com