The Power Of Manufactured Landscapes
3D printing is a relatively fascinating technology in my opinion; the applications are very interesting and the technology is just awesome! I want to cover this manufacturing technology and how it can be used to create full color landscape models, but first let me cover the basics of 3D printing. The style of 3D printing I’m going to refer to is inkjet printing. Before anything can happen in this process, a blueprint has to be created. This blueprint will be developed on the computer by an engineer or designer of some kind. This design will then be sent to the 3D printer itself, where it can articulate the design into a physical model. For this 3D printing articulation to happen, layers of powdered material will be laid down on top of a build table within the printer. The 3D printing Inkjet, similar to one on a paper printer, will hover over the build table in accordance to the design, and bond the grains of material together with an adhesive material, and then it will use the ink to color the material. After the grains of material are bonded together and colored, another layer of material powder will be laid on top and the process will repeat until a final product is removed from the printer.
So, essentially inkjet 3D printing is the layer by layer assembly and bonding of material powder, as well as the coloring of material. Based off of this layer by layer process, incredibly intricate designs can be developed and created with very little geometrical boundaries to face. Layers of material powder will be laid across the entire build envelope, but only some of this material will be used. The excess material will be used to hold the product being created. This means that the product will essentially be “floating” within the printer, so it won’t need supports of any kind.
Through this color 3D printing process, intricate pieces can be created. One great application for this would be architectural models to present. This is great so that the architectural teams can bring a physical model to show investors and project managers. This applies for essentially any kind of product development or concept development teams in which a product manager would like to see where the project is going, or an investor would like to see what he or she is getting into.
Another great application that can come out of 3D printing would be 3D printing landscapes. In landscaping businesses this stands out for project managers and investors yet again. Being able to see the entire build in full color is simply fascinating. This could also apply to geophysicists trying to show prospects for oil and gas. Being able to see a full model and assembly of a landscape could really make an impact to investors. Physically holding a scaled down piece of property could help land a sale, a deal, or a trade that could cost millions of dollars. Just think about that, spending a couple hundred dollars on a landscape which could help land a sale for tens of thousands.