Alex

Researchers from RMIT University have developed a new eco-friendly 3D printable concrete material that uses recycled glass as an aggregate. Conventional concrete formulations tend to rely on natural river sand as a primary ingredient, but this resource is slowly becoming a scarce commodity and its use tends to have damaging effects on the environment. By opting for recycled glass particles instead, the RMIT team believes its work could propagate circular economy principles in the construction sector, bridging the benefits of 3D printing and sustainable concrete production. Interestingly, the team also investigated the effects of the glass particles on the flexural strength and crack propagation characteristics of the concrete. They determined that the novel formulation could actually provide benefits in the way of mechanical properties too, depending on the direction it is 3D printed. 3D printed concrete structures created by RMIT. Photo via RMIT University. Replacing river sand with recycled glass…    read more 

A duo of researchers from Zhejiang University, China, has developed a number of new edible plant-based gel materials that can be used to 3D print meat-like foods. The 3D printable meat alternatives contain ingredients such as soy protein, pea protein, and wheat gluten, boasting the nutritional value of real meat without the associated health and sustainability costs. Interestingly, the most successful formulations also featured cocoa butter as a component, which is a fat extracted from the cocoa bean. The team investigated the effects of protein, starch, and sodium alginate on the extrudability and printing accuracy of the materials, reporting the results in ACS Food Science & Technology. A 3D printed ‘fake meat’ structure featuring soy, wheat, and cocoa butter. Photo via Zhejiang University. 3D printing and plant-based meat alternatives So why 3D print food in the first place? 3D printing food can give rise to personalized meals, as the technology…    read more 

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago, Seoul National University, and the California Institute of Technology has conducted a series of seismic experiments using 3D printed models of the Los Angeles sedimentary basin to better understand the hazards of earthquakes. The team presented its findings at the American Geophysical Union (AGU)’s Fall Meeting 2021 yesterday, revealing that the highest frequency seismic waves which are the most destructive to buildings were actually attenuated – or reduced in force – within the models’ basin, contradicting the long-accepted suggestion from numerical modeling that ground shaking is amplified within basins. The Los Angeles Basin imaged and mapped by NASA’s ASTER Earth-observing instrument. Photo via NASA JPL. Earthquake modeling for basins Sedimentary basins are geological structures that originated as depressions and have become filled-in with lower-density material over time, such as that deposited by landslides and rivers.  Earthquake-prone cities such as Los Angeles,…    read more