3D Printing Research

Researchers at Stanford University have announced the development of a polymerization process that’s “five to ten times faster” than the current quickest high-resolution resin 3D printers on the market. Essentially a fresh take on the Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) method developed by Carbon, the team’s ‘iCLIP’ approach involves repurposing an oxygen-filled ‘dead zone’ at the bottom of a CLIP printer’s resin pool. By pumping extra material into this space, the scientists have managed to accelerate the process, and unlock unique conduit-integrated part designs.  “This new technology will help to fully realize the potential of 3D printing,” says one of the study’s authors and Carbon Co-Founder, Joseph DeSimone. “It will allow us to print much faster, helping to usher in a new era of digital manufacturing, as well as to enable the fabrication of complex, multi-material objects in a single step.” A comparison of Carbon’s CLIP process and the ‘iCLIP’…    read more 

Researchers at Japan’s RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) have used 3D printing to create a device which transforms cockroaches into remote control cyborgs. 3D printed from an elastic polymer that allows it to follow the curved surface of the insect’s thorax, the team’s tiny backpack enables the carrying of a locomotion control module and solar cell. These, in turn, provide users with a means of electrically stimulating a cockroach’s cercus to issue navigational commands, and preventing it from breaking free by keeping its battery charged via the sun.  “Keeping the battery adequately charged is fundamental – nobody wants a suddenly out-of-control team of cyborg cockroaches roaming around,” says the RIKEN scientific research institute’s Masataka Sasabe. “While it’s possible to build docking stations for recharging the battery, the need to return and recharge could disrupt time-sensitive missions. Therefore, the best solution is to include an onboard solar cell that…    read more 

Researchers at Stanford University have used 3D printing to develop a novel device that could help boost solar arrays’ energy-capturing capabilities and remove the need for mechanized tracking systems. Shaped like a tipless inverted pyramid, the team’s Axially Graded Index Lens (AGILE) device captures over 90% of the light it’s exposed to and funnels it in a way that trebles its brightness. Compared to existing solar arrays, which follow the sun across the sky, the AGILE can also catch light passively from any angle, lending it the potential to help make solar panels smaller, cheaper, and more efficient. “We wanted to create something that takes in light and concentrates it at the same position, even as the source changes direction,” explains the device’s developer Nina Vaidya. “It’s a completely passive system – it doesn’t need energy to track the source or have any moving parts. Without optical focus that moves…    read more 

Researchers from the US and Mexico are looking to better understand the rheological and printability characteristics of nutrient-rich 3D printed foods. While 3D printed food products do make for the occasional playful headline, they also have serious potential to provide target populations with the specific nutrients they need. As such, one of the more promising reasons to advance food additive manufacturing is the prospect of personalized nutrition. However, for individualized nutrition to cover a wide variety of needs based on a balanced diet, printing formulations composed of fruits, vegetables, grains, and perhaps even animal products are needed. Custom food formulations with complex multi-ingredient mixtures have proven difficult to 3D print with extrusion-based methods in the past. This can largely be attributed to a lack of understanding of how food behaves during the printing process, so there’s an ongoing need to delve deeper into the effects of rheology on the printability…    read more 

America Makes has announced three new project calls intended to boost the use of industrial 3D printing and provide a new method for supply chain companies to work directly with the Institute. Several actionable areas of focus are linked to each call, including materials data, process monitoring, and data management, as well as education and development of the workforce. America Makes is the leading public-private partnership focusing on 3D printing technology and education. America Makes’ members, drawn from academia, industry, government, and workforce and economic development agencies, are working together to speed up the use of additive manufacturing and the USA’s worldwide manufacturing competitiveness. “We are extremely excited about these project calls as they speak to the core of what America Makes does as an Institute – convenes, coordinates, and catalyzes the AM community,” said John Wilczynski, Executive Director of America Makes “We feel that now is a good time…    read more