INSIDE TECHNOLOGY INSIDE 3D PRINTERS BY YVETTE LAPIERRE CONTENT CONSULTANT Howard A Kuhn PhD Adjunct Professor University of Pittsburgh Technical Advisor America Makes Core Library Cover image A 3D printer makes a model of a human hand by printing material layer by layer An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdobooks com
CHAPTER ONE
PRINTING IN THREE DIMENSIONS The print head in the traces an outline on the printer bed Liquid three-dimensional 3D printer begins to move Guided by a computer it plastic comes out of the nozzle in the print head It creates a curved line on the printer bed The nozzle lifts slightly and moves back and forth It lays down another layer on top of the first one It squirts layer after layer The plastic cools and hardens as the printed object builds upward A pattern begins to appear 3D printers can print models of many things such as famous landmarks and human faces
