Something from Nothing? GM Using “Additive Printing” for Prototype and Even Production Parts
A GM engineer works with a 3D printer at the automaker’s new Additive Industrialization Center.
At a clip too rapid for the human eye to discern, a laser beam fires into a pool of liquid polymer. Each time it does, it causes a tiny droplet of the goo to harden. Eventually, these little “pixels” start to come together, forming a solid part.
The process goes by a variety of names, including both 3D printing and additive manufacturing. It’s been around for several decades but is just beginning to take shape, much like that gooey liquid, into a serious tool for industry – as General Motors demonstrated this week with the formal opening of its new Additive Industrialization Center in Warren, Michigan.