3D prototyping: which printing technology to choose?

The development of 3D printing technologies has led to a real transformation of manufacturing by fostering a variety of sectors ranging from industry to the medical field. 

To date, there are several technologies and printing methods for making functional prototypes for their purpose, including:

• DLP - Digital Light Processing: a technology whereby the polymer is in liquid form placed on a plate inside a tank. The material on the plate moves downward and at each step is exposed to light from a DLP projector. This process continues until the object is made.
• CJP - ColorJet Printing: a printing methodology that makes use of materials such as plaster or plastic powder. Prototyping is done by gluing powder until the desired object is completely molded.
• DMP - Direct Metal Printing: printing is done with metallic materials, on a bed of powder. A laser beam melts the parts that make up the desired object, layer by layer. In this way, at the end of the processing, the non-welded powders will be discarded from the processing plate to be reused in another project.

Among the most widely used and common ones, however, 3 highly innovative technologies stand out on the market, which are:

FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling.

In this mode of production, thermoplastic material passes through a heated nozzle to deposit it on a plate according to file directions. The Z-axis is built up layer by layer.

Value → economical
Limit → accuracy not high

SLS - Selective Laser Sintering.

A powder of thermoplastic material (e.g. Nylon PA12) is used. It is printed inside a printing booth, and by means of a laser the points indicated by the file are melted.

Benefit → rapid production time
Limit → rough finish on the surface

MJF - Multi Jet Fusion

This is a powerful powder bed 3D printing technology using polymeric materials, such as Nylon PA12.
In this mode, unlike SLS, a patented inkjet printing technology is used: the printer colors the various points of the object black. Then halogen lamps bring the temperature up to 180° to fuse the dots, layer upon layer. Unmelted parts are discarded at a later stage, and, as with DPM printing, the powder not melted by the machine is reused for other prints.
Finally, parts printed in MJF can be post-processed by painting, sanding, and plating.

Why is HP Multi Jet Fusion the most advantageous technology on the market?

• Production time 10 times faster than SLS printing
  
• Excellent dimensional quality
  
• Resistance
  
• Fast production time
  
• Invisibility of print layers
  

Learn more about the Niuo 3D printing process and make online prototypes.