Think of chocolate as “ink”, from flat image printing to layering to form a three-dimensional shape, and finally get a unique three-dimensional chocolate product. This is a simple application of 3D printing technology in life, but it is enough to reflect its advantages and potential in personalization.

China 3D printing technology has been in development for more than 30 years, and this technology enables the manufacture of arbitrarily complex structures. However, since 3D printing is still limited by various factors, this technology is still rarely used in large-scale manufacturing except for a few fields.

At present, the large-scale manufacturing application of 3D printing is constrained by the three bottlenecks of production efficiency, cost and material performance. In general, polymeric materials for 3D printing are classified into thermoplastic materials and thermosetting materials. The thermoplastic material which can be melted after heating can be printed by two methods of fused deposition molding (FDM) and selective laser sintering (SLS).

FDM is currently the most common point-by-point printing method, which works by extruding molten thermoplastic material like a toothpaste and solidifying it by structural stacking. This point-forming process is difficult to achieve fast printing, limiting the application of these technologies in large-scale, low-cost manufacturing.

DLP is a face forming technology that is different from other point forming technologies. DLP is scanned by face scanning, which can increase the printing speed in a large arc. It is the most promising technology for large-scale low-cost manufacturing. The manufacturer chooses a low-viscosity liquid monomer to achieve high-speed printing by utilizing the low viscosity of the material itself and the surface oxygen inhibition.

Print using DLP, which can print up to 73 cm high molds in one hour. Compared with FDM, SLS, SLA and other technologies for printing thermoplastic materials, this has a leap in speed; compared with the traditional DLP technology, it has broken through the limitation of printing only thermosetting materials, achieving high speed. Printing thermoplastic polymers further expands the range of applications for 3D printing.

3D printing is like a mature craftsman who can complete the printing of parts or finished products according to the model data, and turn highly complex customized products into reality. Therefore, in medical equipment, aerospace structures, energy equipment and soft robots, etc. Engineering applications show great application prospects.

3D printing manufacturing has significant advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques. First of all, China 3D Printing Prototype does not depend on the production of standard templates, is not limited by traditional processing equipment, can be customized as needed. In addition, the unique production features of 3D printing enable products to update iterations at a faster rate, add more complex structures without significant cost increases, and be more flexible in design and maintenance.