Print Your Own Reality, Print Your Own Home?

“I’ve Heard Of This, But How Does It Affect Me?”

Though there are no limits to an artist’s creativity, there are of course limits to his/her execution of their creative vision – though that is rapidly changing due to relatively recent technology.

We’ve all heard the buzzwords – 3D Printing, biometrics, blockchain/cryptocurrency and the like. But these are largely looked at as the basis for a futuristic science-fiction TV show or a way to unlock our smartphones at best.

2014 saw a growth rate of 35{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in the 3D printing industry alone, across every conceivable industry, from art design and construction to the medical industry and aerospace/ defense as per Forbes.

“But What Changes Can We Anticipate?”

3D Printing, however, is something we’re seeing touch our lives more and more in the past decade – quite literally. Structural steel detailing, in particular, is making great application of the three-dimensional physical mapping and planning properties.

The ability to map a physical space down to a couple of microns is revolutionary in the Structural Steel Detailing industry for very obvious reasons. The first of them is a reduction in the cost of procurement of materials and eliminating wastage thereof.

Constructions materials, TMT Bars, cement blocks and ceramic tiling often go wasted in the tons, with 3D modeling used in conjunction with Steel Detailing, to map out every bit of material required down to the last bits and scraps.

Saving Resources, Saving Lives

This is especially important since Steel Detailing and other construction material consumption are both on a massive rise, given that global poverty was cut in half in the past 30 years.

With government-funded projects across the world, everything from army bunkers and weapon system components, to water storage and pumping parts in developing countries are seeing a massive increase in production via structural steel detailing from several local and global stakeholders.

You can 3D print anything you download the model for. And given the right machinery and resources, it can become a life-changing or life-saving reality in a very short period.

Conventional Examples

A great example and early adopter of this in the manufacturing sector is Ford in the US. As per 2015, Ford was saving over $500,000 per month producing large segments of cars as per 3D modeling.

Ford is also known to revolutionize 3D modeling and structural steel detailing in automobiles through their patented Ford Freeform Fabrication Technology. This is claimed to have cut production time down to hours (from days or weeks required to manufacture it earlier).

NASA’s Made in Space programs allows astronauts and engineers in the International Space Station(ISS) to fabricate their own parts and replacements without needing expensive and time-consuming resupply (through conventional resupply rocket launches and docking).

It’s also known to offer free 3D blueprints for everything from 3D models of launch vehicles and satellites to texture models of the moon’s surface for example.

Creative Examples

From Van Gogh’s Ear to entire housing blocks, the potential and spectrum of what Steel Detailing companies can achieve have only recently seen proper utilization given fairly recent strides in technology.

The applications of Steel Detailing have touched industries extend from bridges to offshore oil rigs such as the ones that Tekla Steel Detailing solutions deal in. Another great example would be this mansion and apartment complex, both mapped and constructed from 3D models entirely.

The components were mapped and “printed” separately and then assembled onsite with almost zero wastage and huge savings in planning and design costs as well.

Artists and inventors can now envision a project in a 3D environment, mapping it dimension by dimension down to the last detail. Curves, load-bearing structures, pylons and the overall picture come together like never before – giving the architects and planners unprecedented accuracy in their execution and assembly phase.

Application Where It Matters the Most – On the Battlefield

Even though eliminating material wastage and ensuring higher accuracy and lower build times are admirable achievements by themselves, they are already being used in crucial operations across the world in literal life or death situations.

The military shows a great deal of interest in the technology as it would eliminate a huge amount of logistical problems about resupply and repair of everything from rifle parts to the components of a guided missile or tank.

These could then be manufactured near the front in a Forward Operations Base (F.O.B) instead of having to be flown, driven or sailed in from their home bases (a logistical nightmare in hostile territory for the US, flying supplies to US troops operating in Afghanistan or Iraq).

Pre-modelled bridges and bunkers can similarly be deployed within hours of entering a combat zone instead of the usual days – even under fire.

Separated by Continents – Connected Via (3D) Blueprints?

Out of over 7.2 billion people who live on this planet, an estimated 1.6 billion lack adequate housing, electricity, water, and sanitation wise – or housing altogether in most cases.

The past decade hasn’t been kind to some of the harshest places to live in politically or climatically. Whether its political instability across Africa (Boko Haraam) and the Middle East (Syrian civil war and rise and fall of ISIS), more than a million people have been displaced by violence alone. This isn’t even accounting for recent droughts, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

NGOs and Governments along with international bodies have made rehabilitation of an estimated 66 million refugees worldwide (as per a UNHCR report) a top priority if peace and development are to reach these regions.

After all, you can’t be curing cancer or inventing the next Mars rover without even a roof over your head. Structural steel detailing companies are no strangers to this reality.

To this effect, “prefab” or prefabricated components are increasingly being used in refugee camps and rebuilding projects, not just because of lower costs than conventional building and conceptualization, but from a time perspective as well.

Endgame…Or Is There An Even Bigger Picture?

While housing the worlds homeless and bringing crucial resources to use are noble pursuits in themselves, one can’t help but wonder if there’s more that can be done with this concept and what it’s future applications could be. 222

3D Modelling is used in everything from designing lifesaving pacemakers, and metallic skull plates post craniotomy to life-ending weapons systems with everything in between being a distinct possibility.

It’s now possible to print tissues and organs, plaster casts and even pills in the Biotech industry. Recent science has shown developments in 3D printed prosthetics for limbs to facial prosthetics and reconstruction surgery.

This is one industry and technological concept to keep an eye on in the years to come.

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