3D Printing Goes Big

A majortiy of design engineers (61%) cited build volume/size as an extrmely/very important capability to consider in a 3D printing solution, according the

“The State of the 3D Printing Market,” a research paper based on survey results compiled by Peerless Research Group and Desktop Engineering on behalf of Stratasys. That’s because larger build envelopes don’t just mean all the benefits of 3D printing can be brought to larger prototypes and enduse parts, larger build envelopes also mean a greater number of smaller parts can be produced in less time.

But not everyone is aware of advances in the 3D printing industry that allow for larger build volumes. When asked about their perceived challenges/obstacles to using 3D printing, almost half (44%) of respondents cited print speeds and nearly a third (32%) cited build volume/sizes. Download the full research paper here.

The good news is that print volumes are indeed getting larger and larger. In the following pages, you’ll find examples of how manufacturers are using large-volume 3D printing to speed testing, create more parts faster, build full-sized prototypes of cars and motorcycles, and even produce fullscale, running automobiles. Read on to learn how 3D printing size and speed challenges are being met.