thefirstdecadeinwhichmetalendusepartssuchasenginebrackets[19]andlargenuts[20]wouldbegrown(either

beforeorinsteadofmachining)injobproductionratherthanobligatelybeingmachinedfrombarstockorplate.

Agiletoolingisatermusedtodescribetheprocessofusingmodularmeanstodesigntoolingthatisproducedby
additivemanufacturingor3Dprintingmethodstoenablequickprototypingandresponsestotoolingandfixture
needs.Agiletoolingusesacosteffectiveandhighqualitymethodtoquicklyrespondtocustomerandmarket
needs.Itcanbeusedinhydroforming,stamping,injectionmoldingandothermanufacturingprocesses.

Astechnologymatured,severalauthorshadbeguntospeculatethat3Dprintingcouldaidinsustainable
developmentinthedevelopingworld.[21][22][23]

Generalprinciples
Modeling

3Dprintablemodelsmaybecreatedwithacomputeraideddesign(CAD)package,viaa3Dscanner,orbyaplain
digitalcameraandphotogrammetrysoftware.3DprintedmodelscreatedwithCADresultinreducederrorsand
canbecorrectedbeforeprinting,allowingverificationinthedesignoftheobjectbeforeitisprinted.[24]

Themanualmodelingprocessofpreparinggeometricdatafor
3Dcomputergraphicsissimilartoplasticartssuchas
sculpting.3Dscanningisaprocessofcollectingdigitaldataon
theshapeandappearanceofarealobject,creatingadigital
modelbasedonit.

Printing

Beforeprintinga3DmodelfromanSTLfile,itmustfirstbe
examinedforerrors.MostCADapplicationsproduceerrorsin
outputSTLfiles:[25][26]holes,facesnormals,selfintersections,
noiseshellsormanifolderrors.[27]AstepintheSTL CADmodelusedfor3Dprinting
generationknownas"repair"fixessuchproblemsinthe
originalmodel.[28][29]GenerallySTLsthathavebeenproduced
fromamodelobtainedthrough3Dscanningoftenhavemore
oftheseerrors.[30]Thisisduetohow3Dscanningworksasit
isoftenbypointtopointacquisition,reconstructionwill
includeerrorsinmostcases.[31]

Oncecompleted,theSTLfileneedstobeprocessedbyapiece
ofsoftwarecalleda"slicer,"whichconvertsthemodelintoa
seriesofthinlayersandproducesaGcodefilecontaining
instructionstailoredtoaspecifictypeof3Dprinter(FDM Timelapsevideoofahyperboloidobject(designed
printers).ThisGcodefilecanthenbeprintedwith3Dprinting byGeorgeW.Hart)madeofPLAusingaRepRap
clientsoftware(whichloadstheGcode,andusesittoinstruct "PrusaMendel"3printerformoltenpolymer
the3Dprinterduringthe3Dprintingprocess). deposition

PrinterresolutiondescribeslayerthicknessandXYresolution
indotsperinch(dpi)ormicrometers(m).Typicallayerthicknessisaround100m(250DPI),althoughsome
machinescanprintlayersasthinas16m(1,600DPI).[32]XYresolutioniscomparabletothatoflaserprinters.