3D Printing Technology Diffusion

3D printing technology has been considered one of the most potentially groundbreaking technologies for the future, as the customer expectations, market requirements, and the competition grows in a global scale. In order to understand the potential effect of 3D printing technology and if it is a disruptive innovation that will change the traditional manufacturing paradigm, it is essential to examine the diffusion of knowledge in this area. In this study, 3D printing technology has been reviewed and patent analysis regarding 3D printing technology has been conducted in order to understand the diffusion of 3D printing technology. The results of the patent analysis indicate that the diffusion of 3D printing technology which is represented by the patents of four key methods not expected to fit with Bass diffusion model. According to the findings, it can be concluded that 3D printing technologies are in a situation where a state of maturity has not been reached, yet the growth still continues.

Complexity Analysis in Additive Manufacturing for the Production of Tissue Engineering Constructs

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a process of making a Three-Dimensional (3D) solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model that is used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing with applications in many fields, such as dental and medical industries and biotech (human tissue replacement). AM refers to technologies that create objects through a sequential layering process. AM processes have several primary areas of complexity that may not be measured precisely, due to uncertain situations. Therefore, this chapter reports an analytical model for evaluating process complexity that takes into account uncertain situations and additive manufacturing process technologies. The model is able to rank AM processes based on their relative complexities. An illustrative example for several processes is demonstrated in order to present the application of the model.

Trend and Development in Laser Surface Modification for Enhanced Materials Properties

This article presents a process review of the commonly available laser surface modification techniques for surface property enhancement. This is reinforced with the specific case treatment of research trends in relation to commonly treated materials. The progression from simple surface modification to the production of components with multifunctional characteristics known as functionally graded material is discussed in combination with emerging research focus on the computational simulation of laser surface modification for optimization of process dynamics.

Study on Different Graphic Representations in Architectural Heritage

In recent years, cutting-edge methods have emerged to gradually replace or be used with traditional methods to carry out graphic surveys of architectural heritage; modern topographic tools such as 3D scanners and specific software. In addition, the new technologies of additive printing and three-dimensional digital representations has made architectural heritage more accessible to the general public. The main objective of this study was to conduct an analysis of each of the methods, to determine their advantages and disadvantages, as well as to carry out a comparative study of the results obtained with each of them.

Cloud Based 3D Printing Business Modeling in the Digital Economy

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is becoming the industry standard for manufacturing and prototyping. Although the technology is very old, it gained a huge traction in the past two decades. 3D printing favors unique once-off orders (mass customization) in contrast to mass production. This calls for innovative business models in order to realize economic gains from the technology. Increased product innovations in the global economy also contribute to wide adoption of 3D printing unlike in the old days. A transition in the manufacturing field has brought e-manufacturing and now cloud-based manufacturing. Machines, including 3D printers, in the past were not Internet-enabled but modern designs have the capability of Internet connectivity. Cloud-based 3D printing is a new model of design that has a significant impact on today's entrepreneurs. This article focuses on a business case for a cloud-based approach in consumer product niches. A cloud-based 3D printing business model (3D-Cloud) is developed based on the business model canvas, which promises major breakthroughs in e-entrepreneurship innovation. The model uses a virtual community approach to bring together technocrats, enthusiasts, and shared 3D printer facilities of common interests, whilst promoting an enterprising spirit.

Clash of Cultures

In 2012, a Belgian company called Materialise hosted a fashion show featuring designs from a worldwide millinery competition. The featured pieces were paraded down a catwalk by professional models, and an overall winner chosen. What made this fashion show unusual was that the attendees were predominantly clinical and industrial engineers, and the host was a specialist engineering and software development company that emerged in 1990 from a research facility based at Leuven University. Engineers and product designers rather than fashion designers created the millinery and the works were all realized through additive manufacturing technology. This chapter provides an example of how fashion design has become a creative stimulus for the development of the technology. It illustrates how disruptive creativity has the potential to advance scientific research, with the two worlds of engineering and fashion coming together through a collaboration with industrial design. The chapter highlights the challenges and possible implications for preparing trans-disciplinary research teams.

Big Data, 3D Printing Technology, and Industry of the Future

This article describes how 3D printing technology, also referred to as additive manufacturing (AM), is a process of creating a physical object from 3-dimensional digital model layers upon layers. 3D printing technologies have been identified as an emerging technology of the 21st century and are becoming popular around the world with a wide variety of potential application areas such as healthcare, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, etc. Big Data is a large amount of imprecise data in a variety of formats which is generated from different sources with high-speed. Recently, Big Data and 3D printing technologies is a new research area and have been identified as types of technologies that will launch the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). As Big Data and 3D printing technology is wide spreading across different sectors in the era of industry 4.0, the healthcare sector is not left out of the vast development in this field; for instance, the Big Data and 3D printing technologies providing needed tools to support healthcare systems to accumulate, manage, analyse large volume of data, early disease detection, 3D printed medical implant, 3D printed customized titanium prosthetic, etc. Therefore, this article presents the recent trends in 3D printing technologies, Big Data and Industry 4.0; including the benefits and the application areas of these technologies. Emerging and near future application areas of 3D printing, and possible future research areas in 3D printing and Big Data technologies as relating to industry 4.0.

The “Arm” Line of Devices for Neurological Rehabilitation

In the modern scenario of neurological rehabilitation, which requires affordable solutions oriented toward promoting home training, the Institute of Industrial Technologies and Automation (ITIA) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) developed a line of prototypal devices for the rehabilitation of the upper limb, called “Arm.” Arm devices were conceived to promote rehabilitation at affordable prices by capturing all the main features of the state-of-the-art devices. In fact, Arm devices focus on the main features requested by a robot therapist: mechanical adaptation to the patient, ranging from passive motion to high transparency, assist-as-needed and resistive modalities; proper use of sensors for performance monitoring; easy-to-use, modular, and adaptable design. These desirable features are combined with low-cost, additive manufacturing procedures, with the purpose of meeting the requirements coming from research on neuro-motor rehabilitation and motor control and coupling them with the recent breakthrough innovations in design and manufacturing.

Integrated Manufacturing System for Complex Geometries

The chapter proposes an integrated manufacturing system consisting of three main components: digital prototyping, physical prototyping, and lost core technology. The integrated system combines the beneficial aspects of computer-aided design, computer-aided engineering, rapid prototyping, and rapid tooling. The proposed integrated system is an attempt to compress the product development time while saving cost. The system can be efficient in designing of mold, parts with complex ducts and cavities, and carrying out design analysis through optimization and simulations. The system is therefore an attempt to minimize the waste of material that occurs in the development of a product and is therefore an efficient green technology for the manufacturing industries.

Enhancement of Surface Integrity of Titanium Alloy With Copper by Means of Laser Metal Deposition Process

The laser metal deposition process possesses the combination of metallic powder and laser beam respectively. However, these combinations create an adhesive bonding that permanently solidifies the laser-enhanced-deposited powders. Titanium alloys (Ti6Al4V) Grade 5 have been regarded as the most used alloys for the aerospace applications, due to their lightweight properties and marine application due to their excellent corrosion resistance. The improvements in the surface integrity of the alloy have been achieved successively with the addition of Cu through the use of Ytterbium laser system powered at maximum of 2000 Watts. The motivation for this research work can be attributed to the dilapidation of the surface of titanium alloy, when exposed to marine or sea water for a longer period of time. This chapter provides the surface modification of titanium alloy with the addition of percentage range of Cu within its lattices; and the results obtained from the characterizations conducted on the laser deposited Ti6Al4V/Cu alloys have been improved.