Large-scale 3D printing involves a variety of technologies and materials, and has been applied in many fields. In fact, the definition of "big" is relative, and there is no fixed standard. Generally speaking, houses, boats and large furniture are all large items. Large-scale 3D printing has gradually become mainstream in the market as manufacturers, artists, and businesses choose 3D printing to meet their large-scale product needs. Developers break through the size of 3D printers step by step, break through the technical boundaries, and print more and larger products. So what are the application areas of large-scale 3D printing? What about large 3D printers?
The size of the product often depends on technology and materials, and it is necessary to find a balance between precision and size, which makes choosing the right 3D printer a key factor for success. Software also plays an important role in creating large products, as the best way to print large objects is often to print them in pieces and assemble them. Large-scale 3D printed products include but are not limited to the following items:
●Displays, props and signage
● Houses and architectural elements
●Industrial and metal parts
●Furniture and vehicles
△The Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands has its own 3D printing laboratory and used two Builder Extreme 1500 Pro 3D printers to make a replica of the Tyrannosaurus rex
●A dinosaur museum without a Tyrannosaurus rex is certainly not a real museum! Based on a 3D scan of an actual T. rex fossil, the Japan Dinosaur Museum 3D printed the 12-meter-long, 5-meter-high replica as a large part printed using two Builder Extreme large-scale 3D printers using PLA plastic filament.
●Museum curators, movie set and prop designers, amusement parks, conference and World Expo display manufacturers, etc. also choose large-format 3D printers to speed up production. In addition to speed and cost advantages, computer-aided design (CAD) software also plays a role Great effect, no longer need any artificial sculpture or secondary creation. Additionally, a huge variety of materials are available, from ultra-light foam to extremely durable carbon-fiber-filled nylon.
△The artist covers plaster over a 17-foot-tall 3D-printed replica of Michelangelo's David recreated for Expo 2020 Dubai
●This 17-foot-tall 3D-printed Michelangelo's David was showcased at Expo 2020 Dubai to promote tourism in Florence. It's impossible for a sufficiently large polymer 3D printer to produce a single replica in ultra-fine detail, so it was divided into 14 printable parts and then assembled by hand, with the marbled exterior hand-painted. Inside the 3D printed David is a lattice mesh structure that helps keep its weight at just 550kg, yet has the strength to pack and ship properly.
△Germany's Styles Werbetechnik uses Tractus3D large-scale FDM printers to produce illuminated sign letters faster than traditional methods
●Styles Werbetechnik, a German signage production company, chose large-scale 3D printing technology to manufacture outdoor signs. Not only did the company want to speed up production, but it also wanted to do letter making in-house, rather than relying on standard letter designs from overseas producers. The company says that using polymer FDM printing offers unlimited design possibilities for the manufacture of contoured letters. For example, letter depth for illuminated signage is limited to a minimum of 60mm in traditional methods, but can be reduced to 30mm in 3D printing. They can also run evenings and weekends, speeding up production times since the 3D printers don't need to be attended to during the process.
△The Smithsonian Museum 3D printed 120 life-size statues of female leaders in the STEM field
In 2022, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. opened an exhibit honoring women scientists, including 120 life-size 3D-printed statues. Called "IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit", it is the largest ever collection of female statues, each of which has been printed using FDM technology.
houses and architectural elements
When it comes to large-scale 3D printing projects, of course housing projects are indispensable. While few buildings are exclusively 3D printed (often requiring or incorporating structural supports such as steel reinforcement or traditional timber structures), 3D printing can serve due to its speed, labor savings and structural durability. For home and hotel. The global construction 3D printing market is expected to grow by nearly 20% over the next five years.
●The two-story building in the picture below was jointly completed by architectural design and engineering companies Hannah and Cive and Peri 3D Construction, which provided 3D printers. The 4,000-square-foot home has been sold to an anonymous bidder and will take a total of two years to complete. Peri's Cobod Bod2 gantry printer, the leading printer in 3D printing architecture, is used to extrude specialized concrete mixes to create stairwells and other functional structures, and a total of 330 hours were printed on this project.
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△The first fully 3D printed two-story house in the United States is located in Houston
●In addition to constructing buildings, 3D printers are widely used for architectural elements, including facades and historic features for restoration, and for interior design, including walls, displays and room dividers. There are even 3D printed floors, 3D printed bridges, and 3D printed artificial coral reefs. Concrete-like materials are not the only option in construction, polymers also play a role. Branch Technology specializes in large-scale 3D printing using robotic polymer extruders, creating everything from sculptures to space habitats. Its innovative building panel system called BranchClad opens up new opportunities for building facades. Just look at the lunar surface installed on the operational side of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center's new Space Camp (below). Created using digital scans of the moon, the facades exhibit an astonishing fidelity to the lunar surface. The positive mold of the lunar pattern was 3D printed and then painted with a stucco material.
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△Branch Technology's new 3D printed moon wall is installed on the side of the US Space and Rocket Center's new space camp operation
Industrial and Metal Parts
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△Relativity Space’s Stargate metal 3D printer
●Rocket manufacturer Relativity Space claims its 3D printed rocket Terran 1 is the largest single 3D printed structure ever, it is 35.2 meters high and 2.3 meters in diameter. The company's next-generation rocket, the Terran R, is just as big. Both are 3D printed on proprietary metal using the company's Stargate 3D printer, using robotic directed energy deposition technology. Relativity Space said the rocket's ability to withstand the stress of launch was a huge win, demonstrating the structural integrity of its metal 3D printing method.
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△Queen Maxima of the Netherlands officially opened the MX3D metal 3D printing bridge.
●The metal bridge across the Amsterdam canal designed by Joris Laarman's laboratory was printed by MX3D using the robotic arc additive manufacturing technology. The 12-meter-long stainless steel "smart bridge" includes an embedded sensor network to help Amsterdam researchers study the role of IoT systems in the built environment. Developed using generative design and topology optimization techniques, the structure is extremely lightweight. The MX3D bridge also showcases the application of metal 3D printing in art and sculpture.
●Below is another MX3D printing work installed by artists Mariagrazia Abbaldo and Paolo Albertelli in Turin, Italy's Royal Garden. Dubbed "The Whale Passage", the 880kg sculpture shows the fins of a whale passing by from the ground. All models made during this project were 3D printed.
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△"Whale Pass" was designed by Mariagrazia Abbaldo and Paolo Albertelli, and 3D printed by MX3D
●Large metal 3D printing can be used in many industries, with companies in the marine, oil and gas, and heavy construction equipment industries able to produce large parts more quickly, often on-site. For example, the marine propeller below was 3D printed using WAAM technology to produce a near-net shape, which was then machined to tighter tolerances. In this case, WAAM replaces forging and can be done closer to where it is needed, using less raw material.
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△This marine propeller is one of the first examples of industrial application of WAAM technology
●3D printing metal can also reduce the weight of parts, because 3D printing can produce shapes that cannot be achieved by forging or casting. The aircraft landing gear part (below), measuring 455 x 295 x 805 mm, is the world's first laser powder bed fusion 3D printed part, according to printer manufacturer SLM Solutions. Not only is the part 15 percent lighter than traditional forged parts, but the technology also reduces turnaround time. Since the component is part of a system that transfers loads from the wheels to the aircraft's structure, it is made of titanium for strength. The choice of materials gives the part strong mechanical properties while being corrosion resistant without the need for a coating, printed using a quad-laser SLM 800 3D printer. “Additive manufacturing helps save time in the qualification and certification phase by quickly delivering parts for testing. We are able to produce major components within a few days, Using the forging process takes several months. "
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△3D printed front landing gear parts for private jets
3D printing large molds for casting metal parts is an important application of large-scale 3D printing. For metal industrial parts that must be cast, the mold making step is laborious and time consuming. With sand 3D printers, manufacturers can 3D print sand castings and molds directly without the need for full-scale models. Voxlejet's VX4000 is the world's largest sand-casting 3D printer, and it uses binder jetting technology to produce not only huge molds, but thousands of them in a single printing process.
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△Voxlejet's VX4000 printer (Source: Voxeljet)
furniture and vehicles
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△A chair manufactured in one piece using a WASP 3D printer.
●Interior designers are also gradually choosing large-format 3D printing to realize complex designs and the use of unique materials. Polymers, especially recycled plastics, are the most commonly used materials for 3D printed furniture, but concrete and metal can also be used. This child-sized school desk in The Gambia (below) is an example of 3D printing addressing a practical need. Lightweight and durable, this design can be produced from recycled plastic, also solving the problem of plastic waste. The model was printed on a Magnum 3D printer at The Industry Sweden in PETG plastic, commonly used in beverage bottles.
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△ Prototype desks to test 3D printed school furniture concept in Gambia, possibly using recycled plastic
●There are countless examples of beautiful 3D printed chairs and tables, including NYXO Visionary Design's (below) lovely collection of coffee tables made from lightweight foamed PLA printed on a Colossus XS 3D printer.
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△The Primavera sculpture table series was designed by Dubai-based architecture and product design firm NYXO Visionary Design and printed using ColorFabb PLA on a Colossus XS printer (Source: Colossus)
Entering the Guinness Book of World Records as both the largest 3D printed boat and the largest physically 3D printed object to date is the 3D printed boat pictured below, which is 7.72 meters long. The boat was printed in 2019 by the Center for Advanced Structures and Composites at the University of Maine. It is made of plastic and wood cellulose. It took only 72 hours to 3D print and weighs 2.2 tons.
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△A fully 3D printed life-size boat produced by the University of Maine
●Bicycle manufacturers have also chosen 3D printing technology to solve welding problems in their manufacturing chain. A one-piece 3D printed frame not only saves time, it enables new degrees of design freedom not limited by structural joints. The bike maker has produced models in titanium, steel and carbon fiber composites. The steel-framed e-bike below from Urwahn was mass-produced using metal 3D printing to achieve a balance of form, function, lightweight construction and materials. Special rear-end elastics suspend the rear wheels and generate a new type of ride comfort, while the steel frame integrates the motor and battery, the company says.
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△Urwahn's 3D printed steel frame electric bicycle
Design Tips and Software for Large Prints
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△The 30-foot-tall 3D printed statue is assembled from 365 individual 3D printed parts, and each part takes 28 hours to print on 55 3D printers
One-piece 3D printing is often ideal because it eliminates assembly labor, speeds up production, and improves structural integrity because there are no seams or surfaces. However, if the printed object is so large that you need to split it into multiple parts, how do you split the model into 3D prints?
●To complete large 3D printing, you can split the model directly in CAD software (such as Fusion360 or Solid Works), which has the advantage of allowing you to design some assembly and alignment aids, such as nails, bumps and grooves, lips, or holes and slots;
●If you are just going to glue large objects together or use screws (only for stronger materials such as carbon fiber filled nylon), you can leave the splitting operation to a slicer tool such as Cura. Segmentation is fast and automated using Cura's mesh tools;
● When manually segmenting the digital model, avoid going directly through detail areas or support areas. avoid splitting at the weakest point in the design,
Namely those areas that are much thinner than the rest of the model.
Top Large Size 3D Printer
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△GEFERTEC Arc60x WAAM Metal 3D Printer (Source: Gefertec)
If you want to use a 3D printer to create parts such as large plastic parts, props, and signs, you can use large-format filament 3D printers, which are essentially the same as desktop filament printers. Some printers can print with engineering-grade durable materials.
If you want to go bigger than the largest FDM printers (+1,600 x 1,200 x 1,300), you'll need a robotic arm 3D printer, a robotic arm with an extruder head attached to the end. They can be placed on rails or overhead gantry, so in theory, it is possible to print to the size of available rails. The Guinness World Record for the largest 3D printer is a gantry extrusion head assembly at the University of Maine, which can reach 30,000 x 6,700 x 3,000 mm. However, this printer is not for sale. Another advantage of robotic arm printers is that they often print using polymers in a more economical pellet form
Resin 3D prints generally cannot be larger than 1,000mm, with a few exceptions such as the Kings 1700 Pro and 3D Systems ProX 950 due to the extremely long print times. Resin usually takes longer than FDM.
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△Medium-sized concrete 3D printer excels in large-format art applications
Concrete 3D printers are a booming market, not just for home construction, but for any type of concrete formwork, furniture, construction, and even plant pots and sculptures. 3D printing very large metal parts is often achieved with a directed energy deposition 3D printing technique such as electric arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). These methods use a 3D printing head mounted on a robotic arm, which has a wide reach and is limited only by the size of the arm.
