/sci/ - Science & Math

>>5796842
I don't think 3d printers will be used to get rid of mass production.

It is likely that we'll see 3d printers used along with other industrial processes to mass produce stuff.

3d printers are already being used to produce components for airplanes at a pretty large scale

>>5796855
There are very much economies of scale with 3d printers. Any unused area in a print bed is essentially wasted material, so the more stuff you can fit in a print bed makes you more money. Big operations make sense in 3d printing.

That being said, it has been demonstrated that we can vastly increase the speed of 3d printing. In the future, it is likely we could increase it even further and get the same material rate as injection molding. But, you can use less material, make more complicated components, switch over to another product line instantly, and avoid/decrease assembly costs(more than 50% of product cost).

If this was a thermoplastic inkjet process, it's likely the energy costs would be similar to that as injection molding

>>5250628
Don't ask us, ask FEA.

>>4022807
>>4022807
Pic related is designed to replace a part in an airplane, some part of a chair or something.

Weight reduction for the part is something like 50%. With each of these parts in a chair and something like 100 seats in an airplane, you can get significant weight reductions.