Alex

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new method of multi-material 3D printing that’s capable of producing parts with both solid and liquid components. Virtually all of today’s 3D printers, bar maybe a few experimental devices, 3D print exclusively solid objects. This is great for everything from desk toys and gears to engine parts and electronics casings, but the ability to integrate liquid sections into a build could vastly expand the number of potential applications. For example, a solid-liquid printer could fabricate entire wearable electronics with solid structural parts and integrated liquid wires, as well as lifelike medical models that more accurately mimic the look and feel of human organs. Taking it a step further, such a machine might even be able to produce an entire print-in-place robot with a single print run, eliminating the need for any assembly. Robert MacCurdy, senior author of the study, said,…    read more 

Researchers at the University of Freiburg have worked with colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley to come up with a novel means of rapidly 3D printing complex glass parts at a microscopic scale.  Known as ‘ Microscale Computed Axial Lithography’ (Micro-CAL), this approach involves exposing resin to 2D light images of a desired shape from multiple angles, which when they overlap, trigger polymerization. When used to print the Glassomer material previously honed at Freiburg, the team say their layer-free process has the potential to unlock devices with new microfluidic or micro-optical functionality.    “For the first time, we were able to print glass with structures in the range of 50 micrometers in just a few minutes, which corresponds roughly to the thickness of a hair,” explains the University of Freiburg’s Dr. Frederik Kotz-Helmer. The ability to manufacture such components at high speed and with great geometric freedom will enable new…    read more