com abdopublishing Publishing Abdo of imprint An LIBRARY MODERN ENGINEERING MARVELS 3-d printers Valerie Checkerboard Bodden
1 3-D wonders It’s Saturday afternoon and you can’t wait to do your weekend homework Your assignment is to make a model of your favorite animal First you use your computer to design a shark Then you hit print You watch as your 3-D printer creates a shark layer by layer out of plastic When the printer stops you examine the shark Its fins tail and even teeth are molded into a model that looks just like the real animal This is the power of 3-D printing 3-D stands for three-dimensional 3-D objects have height width and depth Traditional computer printing is 2-D or two-dimensional 2-D printing creates images with height and width but no depth In place of ink and paper 3-D printers use materials such as plastic or metal Instead of images on paper they create objects This includes tools car parts and even toys 3-D printing is also known as additive manufacturing This is because the printed item is made from scratch Its layers are built up to create a final object 3-D printing creates less waste
3-D printers are becoming more and more common in schools They are used in many subjects such as chemistry art history and biology than traditional manufacturing It also allows people to create customized parts and objects from many kinds of materials A future in which you print your own toys clothes and even food is closer than you think
