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3D Printing News Briefs, August 25, 2021: Software Beta, Self-Replicating Printer, & More https://ift.tt/3BeBa5k We’re starting with materials in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as XJet as announced the commercial availability of alumina ceramic. Moving on, Raise3D has announced the ideaMaker 4.2.0 beta, and an incoming MIT student won an IEEE Scholarship for his self-replicating 3D printer. Stratasys 3D printed several components for Champion Motorsport’s modified Porsche racecar. Finally, a creative maker used PLA to 3D print an adapter that turns an Xbox controller into a joystick. XJet Offering Alumina Ceramic Material Israel-based XJet Ltd. is expanding its AM materials portfolio with the announcement that its alumina (aluminum oxide) ceramic is now commercially available. The company chose to develop this particular material because it’s often been used as a technical ceramic, and because there’s a lot of market demand for parts 3D printed with its NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology. The material offers great electrical insulation, high hardness, and is resistant to high temperatures, as well as featuring high mechanical strength, high thermal conductivity, and high wear resistance. A global customer in the US has been testing the alumina ceramic successfully over the last few months, and you can see it for yourself at several upcoming ceramics and AM shows, including Ceramics Expo in Cleveland, RAPID + TCT in Chicago, and formnext in Frankfurt.
Raise3D Announces ideaMaker 4.2.0 Beta Raise3D, which provides AM solutions for SMEs and LSEs, has announced the beta for its ideaMaker 4.2.0, which further connects and integrates the software with the ideaMaker Library, as well as adding Boolean operations, for an upgraded user experience. The online Library platform—live since last May—allows users to download various textures and optimized slicing profiles, and offers handy user tools, like the profile generator, which makes it quick and easy to generate a profile. With this upgrade, it only takes one click to select their preferred slicing profile, as opposed to downloading it from the Library first and then uploading it to ideaMaker. Other new features include a search tool bar, found under the Advanced Setting window, that can quickly find parameters that contain searched keywords, and the aforementioned Boolean operations, which is available directly in ideaMaker. This feature makes it possible for users to create unions, intersections, or subtractions of 3D models, enabling for more experimentation without needing to get into a different 3D modeling software. You can learn about more improvements and features available in ideaMaker 4.2.0 in the release notes, and download it here. Self-Replicating 3D Printer Wins 2nd at Regeneron ISEF 2021 The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), established by the IEEE Foundation and administered by IEEE Educational Activities, was held virtually this year, and scholarship awards were presented to students for their outstanding projects. Brian Minnick, an incoming freshman at MIT who plans to study material science and engineering, won 2nd place and $600 for his self-replicating 3D printer, which he says creates “plentiful” opportunities, with the main application being the eventual creation of a self-replicating spaceship. Minnick believes that the high cost of building spaceships prevents long-term space travel, and wanted to change up the notion that self-replicating machines are only in science fiction and can’t print electronic parts or motors. To get around this, he developed a 3D printable sintered solder paste material that was conductive enough to work.
You can learn more about Minnick’s project here. Stratasys & Champion Motorsport 3D Printing Racecar Components Champion Motorsport won first place in the recent Time Attack 1 Division of the 99th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with its modified 911 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport car, which features several 3D printed aerodynamic components created by its partner Stratasys—one of these components was the successful first application for its new toolless, carbon fiber-wrapped sandwich core technology. Based on an earlier project between the two, the 3D printed core doesn’t dissolve in water, and instead acts as a structural core for a finished prototype or part. Stratasys used high-temperature Ultem 1010 from petrochemical company SABIC to print a rigid honeycomb core wrapped in carbon fiber.
All told, Stratasys printed 16 aerodynamic parts for the Champion Motorsport project, some out of carbon fiber-filled Nylon 12, some out of Nylon 6, and some were the Ultem 1010 carbon fiber-wrapped cores. The parts consisted of a large rear diffuser part and front splitter, both of which were prototypes built for testing, along with smaller production parts like vehicle side skirts, winglets on the front bumper, and many of the strakes on the exterior to help control airflow around the vehicle. 3D Printed Flight Simulator Adapter for Xbox Controller Finally, maker Akaki Kuumeri hacked an Xbox controller, using a complex 3D printed adapter to turn it into a joystick for the Microsoft Flight Simulator game. You can’t really find an affordable wireless flight stick for the Xbox, but the typical controller isn’t great for flying, which is why Kuumeri just decided to make their own flight stick. The adapter is completely 3D printed out of PLA—no metal gears or screws needed—which allows for flexibility so it can be bent multiple times without snapping or deforming. Thin sheets of PLA were used to create functional hinges, and plastic linkages relay the flight stick’s circular movements to a joystick on an Xbox Series X controller; the thumb buttons on top of the flight stick send down presses to the action buttons so you can control the aircraft’s flaps, throttle, and trim. Kuumeri uploaded a simplified, free version of the adapter to Thingiverse, which helps other makers ensure that their 3D printer is sufficient enough for printing the real deal, as Kuumeri is also selling the 3D models and files for the adapter on Etsy.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com August 25, 2021 at 09:06AM
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