3D Printing

3D printer giant Creality has two new product lines launched today and has also teased the upcoming release of the Klipper-integrated Creality Sonic Pad. Read on to know more about the new and upcoming releases, plus a couple of extra goodies for fans of Creality Cloud and the CR-Laser Falcon cutter. Ender-3 Neo series The new Ender-3 Neo series is the latest addition to the Ender 3 line and consists of three printers, the Ender-3 Neo, Ender-3 V2 Neo, and Ender-3 Max Neo. The Ender-3 Neo series carry durable full-metal Bowden extruders, offering great extrusion force and smooth feeding and retracting of filaments. They also integrate the CR-Touch automatic leveling system with Z-axis compensation functions, providing a hassle-free print bed leveling experience. The Ender-3 Neo is the updated version of Ender-3 Pro, and it integrates a silent mainboard reducing the noise during the printing process. The compact wavy-fin heat sink…    read more 

Researchers at CERN have been awarded funding to continue development of 3D printed cooling system components as part of the AHEAD project. The AHEAD project, which consists of CERN and 5 other partners, aims to produce lightweight, smart heat exchangers with a reduced part count by use of AM processes. AHEAD is one of several projects funded under the second phase of the ATTRACT program which is intended to spin-off research technologies into commercial applications. The AHEAD project will build on previous research conducted in phase one of ATTRACT, where a CERN research team had developed smart pipe technology. Smart pipe. (Image credit: CERN) The Smart Wall Pipes and ducts (SWaP) project (pictured above) used 3D printing to manufacture smart pipes with sensors embedded inside the component. The reduction in size and increase in complexity of these parts means they can be placed in tighter spaces, closer to the systems…    read more 

The Airbus A350 already has more 3D printed parts than any other civil airliner. And that list of AM components will grow further shortly thanks to German company Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, who will be manufacturing a complex titanium component for the aircraft. Liebherr has been selected to supply the lower cargo door actuator and valve for the A350 extra wide body passenger aircraft. It is one of many ongoing projects between Liebherr’s center of competence and Airbus. Liebherr specializes in flight control systems, landing gears, gears, gearboxes and electronics, and is collaborating intensively with Airbus in the development of additive layer manufactured components. Vacuuming the dust (Image credit: Liebherr) Liebherr has hardware installed on all Airbus aircraft and has provided AM components for the A350 before. This is great news for us, because we don’t have any photos of the new 3D printed cargo door actuator, so let’s have a…    read more 

A team of students at TU/Eindhoven have utilized 3D printing to build an electric vehicle that, among other ecologically friendly measures, captures more CO2 than it produces. The passenger-carrying EV is named “Zem” and has been designed and constructed by the student’s TU/ecomotive team at the Dutch university. The team used multiple production methods to ensure that CO2 emissions were kept down during manufacturing, contributing to the overall low carbon philosophy behind the design. The “Zem” with printed monocoque and panels. (Image credit: TU Eindhoven) This included 3D printing the body panels and monocoque structure, which were designed and manufactured in collaboration with CEAD and Royal3D. Both companies are based in the Netherlands and focus on large format polymer additive manufacturing. The printed parts have been made with recycled thermoplastics, which can in turn be shredded and recycled again further downstream after the car’s disposal. Utilizing AM has allowed the…    read more 

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $3 million in funding to two companies aiming to decarbonize manufacturing with robust, 3D printed resin tooling. Resin-manufacturer polySpectra and composite material specialist Fortify, along with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, MPI Systems, RePliForm Inc, and ORNL have been funded to develop direct additive automotive tooling with polySpectra’s Cyclic Olefin Resin-based resins. COR Alpha resin. Good for tooling. (Image credit: polySpectra) “Olefin-based thermoset composites have been used for many decades in extremely demanding applications such as wind turbine blades and fuel cell components, because they are among the most durable materials on the planet,” said Raymond Weitekamp, polySpectra founder. “Under this research grant, we will leverage Nobel-winning chemistry to directly 3D-print these robust composite Cyclic Olefin Resins. The goal of the DOE project is to bring unprecedented materials durability to additive manufacturing, which will provide the industry with immense leverage for the decarbonization and…    read more