3D printing represents one of the future development directions of the manufacturing industry, but it is limited by the lack of existing technology and materials. At present, the experimental use of 3D printing technology is more than practical. John Peter Palutan, Honorary Director of the Institute for Future Studies in Copenhagen (CIFS), said that our society often overestimates the possibilities of new technologies while underestimating their long-term development potential. 3D printing technology will have unlimited possibilities in the future. Let's take a look at why we should develop additive manufacturing.
First, the background environment of additive manufacturing development
1. International background
Since the international financial crisis in 2008, Western developed countries represented by the United States and the European Union have begun to actively seek ways to get rid of the economic crisis and re-examine the relationship between the real economy and the virtual economy. These developed countries have adjusted their economic development strategies and proposed the concept of "re-industrialization". They hope to stimulate the economic recovery by revitalizing the manufacturing industry, maintain the advantages of developed countries in the core scientific and technological fields, and reshape the national competitiveness. In the United States, for example, since 2009, the "Revitalization of the US Manufacturing Framework", the "Manufacturing Promotion Act", the "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) Program" and the "Advanced Manufacturing National Strategic Plan" have been formulated. The specific proposals and measures for accelerating innovation and promoting the development of advanced manufacturing in the United States are proposed from the national strategic level.
In March 2012, Obama announced the implementation of the $1 billion National Manufacturing Innovation Network (NNMI) program, selected 15 cutting-edge, forward-looking manufacturing technologies in the manufacturing sector, and established manufacturing innovation centers to enhance the United States. Manufacturing competitiveness. In April of the same year, additive manufacturing technology (also known as 3D printing) was identified as the first manufacturing innovation center; in August, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center (National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute) with a total investment of 70 million US dollars in the small town of Jans, Ohio The city's ribbon cutting was established. As the first “model demonstration†center, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center is a public-private partnership formed by industry, academia, federal government and state government. It is committed to the development of additive manufacturing technologies and products. And become the basic platform for research, development, demonstration, transfer and promotion of new technologies.
At present, there are more than 84 members in the center, including Boeing, General Electric, Honeywell, 3M, 3DSystem, Stratasys, Allegheny Technology, Bayer Material Science and other global famous companies, Carnegie Mellon University, Celebrity universities, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and other world-renowned research institutions, as well as US government agencies such as NASA, the Department of Energy, and the Ministry of Education. It can be seen that additive manufacturing is not only considered as an emerging technology, but together with other advanced manufacturing technologies, it carries the hope of the US to revitalize the manufacturing industry and is the technical guarantee for the US to achieve the national strategy of advanced manufacturing.
President Obama spoke about the importance of additive manufacturing in his 2013 and 2014 State of the Union speeches. He pointed out that "3D printing can revolutionize the manufacturing of almost anything we do." "We now have the opportunity to manufacture in the next round of high technology." We have beaten other countries in the competition. We have already started high-tech manufacturing centers (National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center) in Raleigh and Youngstown, linking business and research universities to help the United States lead the world in advanced technology. With the US government's strong promotion of additive manufacturing, American private manufacturers' associations, consulting companies, academics and the media have also published reports or articles to publicize public opinion and create a good social environment.
In March 2012, the US Department of Defense Defense Analysis Institute (IDA) released a research report entitled “Additive Manufacturing: Status and Opportunitiesâ€, which comprehensively introduced the status quo of additive manufacturing and the research progress of key technologies. Technical challenges and the role that the government should play. In April of the same year, the British "The Economist" "Athirdindustrialrevolution" special issue, through seven short articles on the future development trend of the manufacturing industry, that additive manufacturing will "with other digital production The model promotes and realizes the third industrial revolution."
In August, Gartner’s Gartner 2012 Emerging Technology Hype Cycle reported that additive manufacturing technologies that combine knowledge in digital modeling, materials and chemistry, automation, and information technology will Revolutionize existing production and business models. It is manufactured in a similar way to printing digital photos, allowing customers to print physical objects at home. Combined with 3D scanning technology, specific objects can be scanned from a smartphone and then printed out with similar copies. This technology has evolved from the embryonic period to the expected expansion period, and together with big data has become one of the most popular new technologies in the market today. Bio-three-dimensional printing will also reach the desired high point of inflation after 10 years (see Figure 2).
The large-scale media exposure in the short term has ignited the global attention to this technology, making the additive manufacturing rapidly warming around the world. After the United States, Europe and other countries are also actively promoting the development and application of additive manufacturing technology. The United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore and other countries have successively set up additive manufacturing technology research centers, established an additive manufacturing alliance between universities, enterprises and governments, provided research funds to support large-scale project cooperation, and formulated additive manufacturing routes. Plans and related standards to promote the research and development and industrial application of domestic additive manufacturing technology, to seize the strategic commanding heights.
2. Domestic situation
China has been conducting research and application of rapid prototyping technology/additive manufacturing technology since the early 1990s. Under the continuous support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has carried out active explorations in equipment manufacturing, materials technology, software development, and industrial applications, and laid a good foundation. With the recent increase in international attention, this technology has become a hot spot for domestic media, research institutes, enterprises, and local governments. The additive manufacturing center has blossomed in many universities across the country, and the industry is booming. In October 2012, China's 3D printing technology industry alliance was established; in March 2013, China's first 3D printing research institute settled in Nanjing.
Zhuhai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and other cities have also begun to build an additive manufacturing industrial park, and provide support in terms of capital, land and supporting policies. At the same time, the additive manufacturing industry has gradually been upgraded to the national strategic level. In 2013, the Chinese Academy of Engineering formulated the “Study Report on the Technology Development Strategy of Additive Manufacturing Technology Engineeringâ€. In the same year, the Ministry of Science and Technology first included the additive manufacturing in the “National High-Tech Research and Development Program (863 Program) and the National Science and Technology Support Program Manufacturing Field 2014. Guidelines for the selection of project selections; the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is also mulling a top-level design and overall planning for additive manufacturing, and developing a technical roadmap and a special policy for industrial development.
In December 2013, Ma Kai, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, pointed out during the investigation and study of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics that the successful research and development of the technology of additive manufacturing will not only play a huge role in the transformation of traditional industries in China, but also It has far-reaching impact on the international competition of Chinese manufacturing. He stressed that we must attach great importance to the support and guidance of high-performance additive manufacturing technology research, adhere to market-oriented, corporate entities and government-led industrial development direction, adhere to innovation-driven, industry-led and talent-supporting industrial development strategies, and focus on Scientific research on equipment, materials and related software.
Second, the significance of developing additive manufacturing
1. Why is additive manufacturing a concern of designers, manufacturers and consumers?
Additive manufacturing is a combination of computer-aided design, material processing and forming technology. Based on digital model files, special materials are stacked and solidified layer by layer through software and numerical control system to manufacture physical product manufacturing technology. It is different from the traditional processing mode of cutting and assembling raw materials. It is based on the principle of material accumulation and from scratch. This makes it possible to manufacture complex structures that cannot be realized by the traditional processing methods. This will greatly simplify product design, increase component integration, and accelerate product development cycles.
First, the new production model. As a “toolless†digital manufacturing technology, additive manufacturing will likely change the production model of certain products, bringing huge economic and social benefits to enterprises and consumers. At present, the production of large factories requires a large number of machines and a large number of professional design and processing technicians can achieve. For additive manufacturing, designers will not need to work in the factory, they can send the designed digital files to the network at home, and customers can use 3D printers to create products that meet the needs through file download. This will achieve a fundamental change in the production model, from the mass production, scale, and standardized manufacturing of traditional manufacturing to customized, personalized, and distributed manufacturing.
Second, the new design concept. Since additive manufacturing technology is produced by layer-by-layer stacking, products with highly complex shapes can be produced. This makes it possible to manufacture complex structures that cannot be realized by the traditional processing methods. This will greatly simplify product design, increase component integration, and accelerate product development cycles. For example, in the aerospace industry, it is possible to reduce the weight of components by optimizing the geometry of the product, thereby improving the strength-to-weight ratio and reducing fuel consumption. It is also possible to achieve multi-functionality of a single part (ie, different parts of the part to achieve different mechanical properties) through component adjustment of a plurality of local regions of the material to meet actual needs. At the same time, because it does not involve smelting, forging, machining and other processes, additive manufacturing can shorten the product development cycle by 30% to 50%, significantly shortening the development cost and cycle of the product.
Third, the new business model. With the development of digital technology, the combination of additive manufacturing and the Internet will also enable consumers to directly participate in the product life cycle, from the initial design process, to manufacturing, to the maintenance of later products, and through the network to achieve digital files. Sharing and trading. This greatly circumvents the value chain of traditional manufacturing and retail industries, stimulating the emergence of new product design models, sales business models and supply chain management models, which benefit related companies (Figure 4). On the one hand, consumer participation will greatly enhance the company's ability to innovate and research and development, so that the boundaries of innovation can be extended, and on the other hand, products can be more easily adapted to market demand and reduce business risks.
Fourth, to achieve personalized product manufacturing. Thanks to the advantages of “free design†and “no tools requiredâ€, additive manufacturing will enable commercial personalized manufacturing, printing from X-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Hundreds of implants that meet the needs of patients, to personalized consumer goods such as shoes, jewelry and household items. With the further development of technology, the use of additive manufacturing technology can also directly print living tissue, create artificial organs that meet the needs of the human body, and the reconstruction of artificial organs will bring a revolutionary change to modern medicine.
Fifth, conform to the green economy development model. Compared with the “material reduction manufacturing†that uses the cutting machine tool to process the blank, the additive manufacturing reduces the amount of raw materials used and reduces the pressure on natural resources and the environment. In addition, additive manufacturing can greatly compress the supply chain, allowing traditional offshore economic models to change. It will allow simultaneous production at locations close to the consumer area for distributed manufacturing. This will significantly reduce the amount of energy used to transport mass-produced goods from the place of production to the place of consumption, which is beneficial to the local economy, the environment and consumers.
2. What can additive manufacturing bring to China?
Additive manufacturing was originally used for prototype manufacturing. After years of development, its application fields have expanded to include electronics, automotive, medical, industrial and commercial machines, aerospace and many other industries. According to information released by WohlersReport 2013, the global production value of additive manufacturing in 2012 was 2.204 billion US dollars, an increase of 28.6% over the 1.714 billion US dollars in 2011. It is expected that the industry scale will double to reach US$4 billion in 2015. Although additive manufacturing technology has developed rapidly in recent years, according to industry analysts, the current market penetration rate of this technology is still less than 8%. Part of the reason is due to the lack of awareness of this technology, but more importantly, the technology is currently facing some technical bottlenecks, limiting its larger-scale applications. If these bottlenecks can be broken, the market penetration rate of this technology will reach 92%, and its output value will exceed 100 billion US dollars in 2020. In contrast, the current global aerospace industry has an annual output value of about $330 billion.
It can be seen that as a high value-added manufacturing economy, additive manufacturing will likely grow into a huge industry and play an important role in China's future economic development. At present, this technology has achieved small-scale applications in the aerospace, medical device and creative industries, and has begun to expand into other industries. The related equipment, equipment production, software development and creative design industries will also usher in major market opportunities. In addition, additive manufacturing has other strategic value.
First, additive manufacturing can enhance the development level of the manufacturing industry and enhance the international competitiveness of the country's advanced manufacturing technology. Although China's manufacturing industry has already ranked first in the world, it is generally large but not strong. As the manufacturing industry gradually digitizes, individualized demands are gradually increasing, and new changes are quietly coming. This means that some traditional factories will gradually disappear and manufacturing will be separated from large, complex, expensive and lengthy industrial processes. The production of some high value-added products will return to the original point like a circle, from mass production to personalized production.
The production goal will no longer be the pursuit of economies of scale, but faster and more flexible production. This shift will likely lead some production jobs in emerging markets to return to the hands of developed countries. In addition, the combination of additive manufacturing and traditional manufacturing processes will facilitate industrial upgrading. For example, complex molds used in the manufacture of mechanical parts can be produced by additive manufacturing techniques. A product produced by EOS in Germany has reduced the cost by nearly 85% and reduced the production cycle by 50%, which has greatly promoted the advancement of complex abrasive tools and mechanical parts manufacturing technology. Therefore, in the face of the “manufacturing revitalization plan†implemented by developed countries, we will actively develop advanced manufacturing technologies represented by additive manufacturing, drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries, and promote the transformation of China from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing power. The strategic need for China’s global manufacturing status as the largest country.
Second, additive manufacturing can reduce the consumption of valuable resources and achieve efficient use of scarce materials and other resources. Since additive manufacturing uses stacking to achieve product manufacturing, more than 90% of raw materials can be recycled and reused. This technology is characterized by energy saving, energy saving and environmental protection. This has important strategic significance for some scarce resources that are widely used in the national economy and the defense industry. For example, in the aerospace industry, in order to achieve high performance of parts, expensive strategic materials such as titanium alloys and nickel-based alloys are required to be used in large quantities. The processing of these materials is very difficult, the traditional forging process will cut a large number of wastes that are difficult to reuse, resulting in huge waste of raw materials. For example, the weight of the titanium alloy frame of the F22 fighter is 144kg, but the original forging quality is 2980kg, and the material utilization rate is only 4.8%. The use of additive manufacturing technology can greatly improve the material utilization rate of high-performance metal parts and save more than two-thirds of expensive raw materials.
Third, additive manufacturing will achieve “living†printing in the future, which will lead to changes in the biomedical industry. The most groundbreaking and revolutionary application of additive manufacturing technology is the “living†printing of human tissue. At present, the global demand for organ transplants is huge, with only 114,000 people in the United States waiting for proper organ pairing, and more than 6,600 patients are awaiting death each year. Using 3D printing technology, patient cells can be used to create "living tissue" for organ transplantation to solve this problem. Although the road is very long, the prospects are very exciting. The design and manufacture of living human tissues, even human organs, has become the focus of research in the frontiers of life sciences, and its development and application are giving birth to a new discipline - regenerative medicine. In the next 20 years, the annual output value of regenerative medicine will exceed 500 billion US dollars, replacing conventional biological materials as the main body of the biomedical materials industry. Therefore, the development of additive manufacturing can not only promote the rapid and healthy development of China's bio-pharmaceutical industry, but also have great significance for improving the national health level.
Fourth, the new design concepts, production methods and business models that can be stimulated by additive manufacturing will create a more outstanding value chain system. Additive manufacturing is not only an advanced manufacturing technology, it will also impact existing design concepts, production methods and business models, making manufacturing and design integrated into a “lean design†model. This will not only affect the manufacturing industry itself, but also change the pattern of economic development and our way of life. Additive manufacturing will minimize the complexity of the manufacturing process, and the flexibility to improve manufacturing through lean design will become an industry trend. Manufacturing-oriented design and assembly-oriented design concepts will gradually be accepted and become the model for industry leaders to achieve innovation. This kind of change just caters to the rapid development of information technology. The rise of digital products such as iTunes has revitalized the traditional music and film industry. The rise of e-commerce such as Taobao has activated the release of mass consumption potential. Additive manufacturing will be possible. Authorization and trading of digital files (3D model files) for a large number of existing products.
In the future, with the increasing popularity of the Internet, the “smart factory†generated by the convergence of the Internet of People, the Internet of Things and the service network will replace the traditional closed manufacturing model, that is, make full use of information communication technology and cyberspace virtual systems to achieve The intelligence of manufacturing (see Figure 5). This will not only free the company's internal staff, but also focus on innovation and value-added services. It can also maximize the use of crowdsource creative resources through remote cooperation, so that the company can look at it from a larger perspective. Product development.
This model will unleash the wisdom of the whole society. Through collaborative manufacturing and full participation in the construction of personalized and numerical products and services, it will create new areas of activity and forms of cooperation, and evolve a more flexible and dynamic business model. Reorganize the industrial chain to create a new profit model and value chain system. For the future development of China's manufacturing industry, it will become more important to adapt to the transformation of manufacturing methods under the informatization and to realize the transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China" through advanced technology.
(Editor)
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