Since the 1990’s 3D technology has gone hand in hand with the film spurned by the with the growth of special effects. CGI has become commonplace in movies and is used to create designs of characters, creatures, objects, explosions, planets, entire universes even. But movies are not just CGI. Props are an important part of filmmaking which help sets and even characters come to life. There is no doubt that the use of 3D printers in the film industry is becoming more promising: producers, filmmakers, propmakers and costume designers are lately utilizing 3D printers to save time and money while creating astonishing effects for us to enjoy.

Mixing real objects, accessories, and costumes with CGI is essential to get optimum results, but it means that studios and investors need more and more money, and making films has become very expensive. 3D printing can in these cases be used both to augment special effects, create inexpensive props, be used for stop motion and generally can be used to save costs.

During the last couple of years 3D printed props, models and costumes made their appearance in movies. One of these movies even won an Oscar last weekend for Best Costume Design while another won an Oscar for best special effects. Here are some of the most interesting uses of 3D printin in the movies:

First Man (2018)

Image provided by BigRep

First Man is a biographical drama film directed by Damien Chazelle and written by Josh Singer. The film is based on the book “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong” by James R. Hansen. The film follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969, and to bring this to life, 3D printers were used.

First Man’s production designer Nathan Crowley came across a BigRep 3D printer printing a chair while strolling through the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the shoot for The Greatest Showman in the fall of 2016. He did not get to use a 3D printer for said movie, but he was sure he wanted to for his next movie.

Image provided by BigRep

For First Man, Crowley rented two BigRep One 3D printers to create an accurate scale replica of the Apollo 11 capsule and Saturn V rocket, along with other crucial props, in less than six months. Although the crew already had some experience with 3D printing, BigRep One was nothing compared to what they have used before, thus BigRep’s senior 3D printing specialist Michael David helped the crew with the installation and training. You can read more about it here.

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther is a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it tells the story about T’Challa who is crowned king of Wakanda following his father’s death, but his sovereignty is challenged by an adversary who plans to abandon the country’s isolationist policies and begin a global revolution. Black Panther has recently won an Oscar for Best Costume Design for Ruth Carter’s amazing work.

Photo: Kwaku Alston

The movie takes place in a technologically advanced environment with several futuristic gadgets, therefore, it was important that costumes reflected that aesthetic. Carter, in charge of the movie’s costume design, created a series of sketches, illustrations, and digital patterns. To bring them to life, Julia Koerner, an inter-disciplinary designer specialized in 3D printed wearables helped Carter. Koerner collaborated with Materialise, a Belgian 3D printing company, on creating a collection of cutting-edge accessories fit for Queen Ramonda played by actress Angela Bassett.

Jurassic World (2015)

From the classic Jurassic Park film series, Jurassic World is a science fiction adventure film directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Derek Connolly. The movie takes place 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, in the fictional Central American island of Isla Nublar, where a theme park of cloned dinosaurs has operated for nearly a decade.

Jurassic World got closer to reality thanks to 3D printing. The team used 3D scanning and 3D printing to create replicas of prehistoric artifacts by 3D scanning original bones and fossils and to help them create 3D printable models.

Source: 3D World Magazine Issue #182

Thanks to 3D printers, the team had the chance to print dinosaur skeletons. By doing some modification on their 3D files, they were able to create males, females, and adolescents. Additive manufacturing gave them a lot of freedom to adjust the design of dinosaurs to make them look as realistic as possible.

Chase Me (2015)

Chase Me is a 3D printed film created by the French digital artist Gilles-Alexandre Deschaud. The short film was entirely made from 3D printed parts. The story begins with a girl playing the ukulele as she walks through a magical forest. As she walks, her shadow evolves into a monster that chases her through the woods. Every frame of the film was first designed by the artist in CG and later processed into 3D prints.

This short animated film took a total of two years to make, ten months of nonstop 3D printing, four months of CG animation, and 2,500 3D printed pieces. The set and characters were printed in 100 micron resolution, and bigger pieces, like the tree in the forest, were printed in 22 individual parts and later assembled.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a space opera film produced, co-written and directed by J. J. Abrams. The Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, the film follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron’s search for Luke Skywalker and their fight alongside the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa and veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire.

A lot of props and costumes have been 3D printed for this Star Wars movie and all of them were created under the supervision of practical special effects and costume design Michael Kaplan. The famous Stormtroopers helmet, large portions of the shiny chrome Stormtrooper armor, Kylo Ren’s red lightsaber, and some parts of C3PO have been manufactured using 3D printers. The main advantage of using 3D printers was that this manufacturing technique allowed the movie to get props quite quickly and with great accuracy.

ParaNorman (2012)

ParaNorman is a stop-motion animated comedy horror film produced by Laika and Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler. It is the first stop-motion film to use a 3D color printer to create character faces, and only the second to be shot in 3D. The film tells the story about Norman, a young boy who can communicate with ghosts, is given the task of ending a 300 year-old witch’s curse on his Massachusetts town.

The team that worked on this movie wanted to create various facial emotions for the same character. To do this, they used 3D printers to create all  the faces with different facial emotions. Norman was then capable of 1.5 million expressions. For the 27 characters with 3D printed faces, the rapid-prototyping department output 31,000 parts, which they were stored and cataloged in a face library. One 27-second shot required 250 different faces for a single character, so each face was marked by tiny fissures where the components fit together. Later on, a “seam team” removes the fine lines in postproduction.

[Sources:

,

]

Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabi, SABIC is a dynamic company bringing forth innovation in materials and techniques to the additive manufacturing industry. Recently, they produced a case study regarding autoclave tooling, exploring its overall effect on the performance of a 3D printed tool. ‘Autoclave Tooling Using Large Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM) Technology,’ authored by Walt Thompson, Scott R. Huelskamp, Tim Allessio, and Kim Ly of SABIC’s University of Dayton Research Institute, gives us insight into the use of autoclaves and progressive approaches in tooling.

LFAM occurs via the melting of plastic pellets on a large scale and allows for the use of additional additives from glass to carbon fibers, minerals, and more, offering strength and performance that the SABIC team states cannot be achieved through the use of unfilled resins. In the creation of large parts, strength and cohesion are required to sustain comprehensive structure not only during the time of printing but afterward when the final result may be serving as an important prototype or functional piece.

Large parts can be printed, with all the typical benefits of additive manufacturing and 3D printing, such as production of complex geometries that are made quickly, and affordably. For industries delving into progressive technology in manufacturing, the advantages of 3D printing on any scale are enticing due to the savings in time and money as compared to conventional processes like computer numerical control (CNC) machining; in fact, with LFAM technology, multiple designs and multiple iterations can be made just in the time that it would take to create one metal tool via CNC machining.

Refinement within the autoclave environment has been a major issue, however. The SABIC team points out that a serious obstacle in replacing metal tools with those made by LFAM has been finding a suitable resin/filler system combination. Any material used must not only have good printability but also be able to hold up against temperatures, loads, and size requirements.

“Dimensional stability of the printed tool is critical, as movement of the tool can have a negative effect on final part quality,” states the SABIC team.

Application requirements for this study are as follows:

• Autoclave cycle ability @ 350°F @ 85 – 90 psi pressure
• Ability to withstand greater than 10 autoclave cycles and maintain vacuum
• Maintain dimensional profile tolerances of +/-0.005 inches, over the tooling surface before, during and after autoclaving

Using their expertise in materials, SABIC suggested the use of LNPTM THERMOCOMPTM AM EZ006EXAR1 compound, providing a combination of ULTEMTM resin, a high-temperature material used in aerospace applications. The team used several different tool sizes in experimenting during this study and ultimately, focused on one type of geometry that is often used in military aircraft designs. The tool was then printed at the SABIC Polymer Processing Development Center (PPDC) in Pittsfield, MA, on the BAAM machine, technology we have been following since they used it to develop reinforcements for automobiles previously, a yacht hull and also have used the technology in connection with the development of other new materials.

Four different phases of testing followed. Phase 1 involved 3D scanning of the tool with a Creaform HandySCAN 3D® handheld scanner.

“After scanning, the tool surface was vacuum bagged,” stated the SABIC team in their case study. “Minimal loss of vacuum was visually observed, indicating that the TD Seal HT provided a good sealing surface. The tool was then placed in an oven and heated to 350° F. After soaking for 4 hours, the tool was removed from the oven and the vacuum integrity was checked a second time. Again, no significant vacuum loss was visually detected.”

Tool setup before autoclaving

In Phase 2, the SABIC team tested the tool in autoclave cycling at PPDC.

“During each cycle, a composite layup was placed on the tool and autoclaved to cure the composite. The composite lay-up and autoclave process included two plies of RM 2005 epoxy/carbon prepreg manufactured by Renegade Materials Corporation.”

Five testing cycles were completed in the autoclave, and then the tool was scanned again revealing that 99.7% of the tooling surface was within +/-0.004 inches of the baseline scan conducted after the Phase 1 testing was completed.

In Phase 3, the tool endured further testing in five more autoclave cycles, using the same methods, although pressure was increased to 100 psig.

“In comparison to the baseline scan, the results were similar to those seen after the first five autoclave cycles: 99.7% of the tooling surface was within +/-0.004 inches of the baseline scan,” explained SABIC.

Tooling surface after five cycles.

In Phase 4, the tool went through extreme measures with ten cycles in the autoclave using the same methods as Phase 3. Scanning was performed again afterward, and when compared to the baseline, the researchers saw that 99.7% of the tooling surface was still within +/-0.004 inches of the original baseline scan. In conclusion of this research, the SABIC team stated:

“This study shows that LNP THERMOCOMP AM EZ006EXAR1 compound is a viable feedstock material for composite tooling applications. More broadly, it confirms that LFAM is a viable process for producing autoclave tooling that can withstand at least 20 standard autoclave cycles without introducing dimensional inaccuracies into the part.”

“The team recognizes the need, moving forward, to quantify the actual time and cost savings using LFAM versus incumbent tooling approaches. However, initial estimates show a significant savings in both time and cost. This needs to be validated in future work.”

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Tooling surface after 20 cycles.

[Source / Images: SABIC case study shared with 3DPrint.com]

Related posts

• Four Unconventional Ways to Improve Conversion Rates
• Setting the Goals for Your Marketing Automation Program

Collagen Based Scaffold

Most biomaterials all are vastly different than each other in interesting ways. For those who have kept up with this series, it is safe to assume we still have a bunch of materials to analyze and understand. The field of biomaterials is vast and we need to understand all our options for bioprinting. Most additive manufacturing industries are comparatively simple and have polymer standards when it comes to 3D printing. So the materials are often derivatives and are similar to existing well-understood materials. This is not the case yet in bioprinting because of how complex biology is. We cannot limit the scope of materials because different materials are beneficial for a wide array of purposes within bioprinting. Today we will take a look into how gelatin is used in bioprinting.

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle (when dry), substance that is derived from collagen obtained from various animal body parts. It is also referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, collagen hydrolysate, gelatine hydrolysate, hydrolyzed gelatine, and collagen peptides. It is typically used as a gelling agent in food, medications, photographic films, and cosmetics.

Gelatin formation through collagen hydrolysis

It is important to understand the terminology of a hydrolyzed collagen within bioprinting. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and helps give structure to our hair, skin, nails, bones, ligaments, and tendons in our body. Collagen allows us to move, bend and stretch. Collagen also keeps our hair shiny, our skin glowing, and our nails strong. It is an essential protein.

Collagen cannot be absorbed by the body unless it is hydrolyzed. This means that the process of hydrolysis must occur before it can be effectively absorbed. Water is used to break down a collagen into its components. These components are amino-acids such as glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and arginine, all of which help our body’s connective tissue, skin, hair, nails, as well as gut health.

Earlobe Vasculator Structure from Gelatin

With all that info stuffed down your throats, I am sure you are wondering how is this relevant for bioprinting. Typically gelatins are used to create hydrogels. We have discussed hydrogels in general before in this series. These particular gelatin hydrogels have important properties. They have excellent biocompatibility due to the amount of amino-acid components embedded within them. They have rapid degradability due to how they break down in reaction to water. They lastly have non immunogenicity due to how readily available the components of a gelatin are within the human body.

The biggest pain point for gelatin hydrogels is the melting point temperature. Gelatins are thermosensitive polymers. This causes tensile strength to sharply reduce once the material is above 28 degrees Celsius. The strength of a gelatin is also dependent on other additives that are used in combination with it.

This is only us scratching the surface on gelatin as a biomaterial. Through this series we hope that people realize that we are only giving small pieces of info out. We encourage you as a reader to follow up and learn more from reading and expanding your knowledge. Maybe an interest for bioprinting will lead to you studying more biochemistry and a variety of topics. We will continue to give you small sample sizes of the vast world within biology and how it can be applied to bioprinting. Leave some comments even on some things you would like to know about as a reader.

Korean researchers have been experimenting further in the bioprinting of tracheal implants, publishing recent results in ‘Trachea with Autologous Epithelial Cells and Chondrocytes.’ The team of scientists details their use of polycaprolactone and hydrogel mixed with nasal epithelial and auricular cartilage cells.

After bioprinting an artificial trachea with these materials and tissue, they transplanted them into 15 rabbits, six of which were a control group. The goal was to find a way to overcome tracheal problems due to tumors, the most common of which are adenoid cystic carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Previously there have been substantial challenges in creating viable tracheas that are anatomically correct and can produce a ciliated epithelium. Issues have arisen with infection, implants that become dislodged, have migrated, or experienced obstruction.

System components and bioprinting process. (A) Schematic graph of 3D bio-scaffold plotting system. (B) Detailed fabrication process of artificial trachea using bio plotting system. First, porous PCL layer; second, cell-laden alginate; third, non-porous PCL layer; fourth, cell-laden alginate; and fifth, porous PCL printing on tube type module.

“The most actively studied method for fabricating artificial trachea is tissue engineering, and biodegradable synthetic polymers are used to make tubular scaffolds,” state the scientists. “A scaffold made using tissue engineering tends to have a smooth vascularization and less obstruction when compared to foreign materials, allografts, and autogenous grafts. Currently, studies are underway in various directions, including those that regenerate tracheal epithelium.”

Materials similar to tracheal cartilage include polycaprolactone (PCL), polyglycolic acid (PGA), polylactic acid (PLA), and poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA). These have all been used in 3D printing and ongoing research. In this study, the researchers 3D printed tracheas as close to the human tracheal structure as possible and assessed them over a 12-month period.

“This study is the first to treat tracheal lesions using 3D printed artificial trachea with autologous epithelial cells and chondrocytes, and there have been few studies examining long-term effects of artificial tissue over one year,” state the researchers. “Respiratory epithelia and cartilage chondrocytes, which play the most important role in the structure of the trachea, were cultured to produce hydrogel for bio-printing. An artificial trachea was produced using 3D printing with a biodegradable polymer. In addition, an artificial trachea was implanted in a well-known trachea scaffold partial resection model, and respiration scoring, x-ray, computed tomography (CT), endoscopy, and histological examination were performed.”

3D printed alginate hydrogel and artificial trachea. (A) Alginate hydrogel being extruded at 300 um nozzle. (B) Optical image of 3D alginate cube type (16 × 16 × 2 mm3). The higher concentration of alginate hydrogel providing more precise and porous cube type. (C) Gross image of the artificial trachea fabricated using a 3D bio-printer. (D) Scanning electron microscopic image. From the bottom: first, porous PCL layer; second, epithelial cell layer; third, non-porous PCL layer; fourth, chondrocyte layer; and fifth, porous PCL layer are clearly seen. (E–G) Fluorescent microscopic images using green dye for the epithelial cells (E) and red dye for chondrocytes (F); and merged image (G) reveals that the 2 hydrogel layers are completely separated.

The emphasis was on creating epithelium and cartilage regeneration, with nasal cells in the internal layer and auricular cartilage cells in the external layer. The researchers stated, however, that the use of two different types of cells in implants has been challenging.

“Nasal epithelial cell cultures were used to transplant trachea-like ciliated epithelial cells without damaging the tracheas of the rabbit before surgery, and epithelial cells were successfully formed in all the experimental groups. We believe that this is the effect of transplantation of epithelial cells into scaffolds and that there is a direct correlation with early survival rate,” stated the researchers.

For these types of bioprinted transplants, cartilage is vital. No formation of cartilage was noted in the 3-month group, although there was some growing at 6 and 12 months.

“Other studies using rabbit ear chondrocytes for tracheal grafts also revealed a cartilaginous island similar to that of the native trachea at 6 months, but it did not produce a complete c-shape,” stated the researchers.

They ended the research realizing that greater methods should be studied to find ways to reduce the amount of time it takes for cartilage regeneration. Further, in conclusion, the research team states:

“In this experiment, an artificial trachea was constructed using a 3D bio-printing technique and was successfully transplanted with two different types of autogenously isolated cells, epithelial cells and chondrocytes. The artificial trachea was successfully engrafted into the partially resected trachea, resulting epithelialization and formation of cartilage islet. This resulted thirteen of fifteen animals’ survival until 12 months without specific respiratory signs in the experimental group, while the control group showed only four of six animals’ survival. Our research could inform that our 3D-printed artificial graft containing autogenous cells is stable enough for a long time about a year and could provide a platform to apply with several different types of cells or suitable biomaterials to treat tracheal diseases.”

The trachea has been the object of bioprinting in the last five years, improving the lives of patients like babies with 3D printed trachial splints, a child in Ireland now able to breathe more normally despite pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and other medical innovations such as tracheal implants without tissue scaffolds. Find out more about this particular study here.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source / Images:

]

Histopathologic images of epithelial regeneration. Compared with the normal tracheal epithelium (A), the control group (animal no. 5) does not show epithelial regeneration (B). However, the experimental group shows epithelial regeneration at 3 months, and 1 animal shows incomplete epithelial regeneration with squamous metaplasia (C, animal no. 8). The animals at 6 (D, animal no. 14) and 12 months (E, animal no. 21) show complete epithelial cell regeneration. (F) A whole trans-sectional image at 3 months in the experimental group (animal no. 9) also shows complete epithelial regeneration. (Masson’s trichome staining, the bars in subpanels A-E indicate 50 µm and that in subpanel F indicates 1 mm) The epithelial regeneration was pointed with green and yellow boxes in (D,E).

Just as 3D printing is allowing us to create so many things never before possible, the technology itself continues to expand beyond its previous limitations. Miniaturization is a good example, as explored recently by German researchers at Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) in ‘High‐Performance Materials for 3D Printing in Chemical Synthesis Applications.’

Previously 3D printing resins have not been evolved enough to handle the chemistry required in fabricating microreactors or lab-on-a-chip devices. In this latest study, the researchers study new developments in materials and technique, focusing on transparent silicate glasses, ceramics, and fluorinated polymers.

Here, miniaturization is discussed regarding the field of microfluidics and the potential for creating intricate but in many cases, microscopic, devices. Historically these types of devices are fabricated with silicon, but as the researchers point out, that is difficult to do with 3D printing. As the use of polymers has progressed, the scientists see promise for microfluidics too.

“Additive manufacturing, the layer‐by‐layer generation of a component, holds the great promise of reducing the poly‐mer structuring process to a single step of fabrication using one machine and only requiring a digital model of the desired structure,” state the scientists.

Fabrication of chips and prototypes is already going strong, but what the researchers would like to see happen is for a stronger connection between microfluidics and chemistry. As they point out, 3D printing has also been used successfully for chemical batches in low-volume production, along with flow-through synthesis reactors used for making pharmaceutical molecules. This is generally achieved through stereolithography (SLA) printing though, which is in incompatible for the scientist’s purposes here as it leads to negative chemical reactions. Because of this, the research teams has realized a need for materials in SLA printing that are uniquely and highly resistant. They also see such ‘fine-tuning’ as an opportunity to control further micro- and nano-structuring of bulk material and create ‘significantly enhanced’ materials

“We have recently shown the fabrication of such a material system with the introduction of Fluoropor, an optically transparent fluoropolymer foam that can be structured using 3D printing techniques for generating surfaces with enhanced wetting properties, such as hydrophobic/superhydrophobic patterns,” state the researchers. “Much effort is made to produce such selectively wetted surfaces also for organic compounds to facilitate synthesis in droplets and the fabrication of chemical arrays.”

Creating new SLA printing materials, according to the research team, means mixing the following:

• Polymerization initiators
• Inhibitors
• Monomeric species

All of these together should allow for 3D printing of microstructures in high resolution. In this study, the researchers focus on fabrication with fused silica glass, which they describe as ‘one of the most chemically and thermally stable materials, ceramics, and the most inert type of polymers, fluoropolymers.’

3D printing of ceramics: a) Cellular tube fabricated by stereolithography printing of alumina nanocomposites and subsequent thermal debinding and sintering. Reproduced with permission.45 Copyright 2014, John Wiley and Sons. b) Cork screw printed using preceramic polymers. Reproduced with permission.47 Copyright 2017, Science. c) Robocasted heterogeneous ceramic catalyst fabricated by printing an Al2O3/Cu slurry and subsequent sintering at 1400 °C. Reproduced with permission.52 Copyright 2016, Elsevier.

Fabrication of transparent silicate glasses was not achieved in 3D printing for over 20 years, although the researchers explain that there were many attempts leading to results with white or nontransparent parts. Ceramics have also been explored and are being used in 3D printing in numerous cases we have followed before—from use in printing replacement parts on naval ships to making jewelry to medical implants. As a class of material for 3D printing, they exhibit both high thermal and chemical resistance.

“Here, preceramic polymers with adjustable rheological properties could in future work become an interesting alternative for direct patterning of high‐resolution components for chemical synthesis applications,” state the researchers.

3D printing of transparent glass. a) Stereolithography printing of silica nanocomposites. Amorphous silica nanoparticles are dispersed in an acrylic photocurable binder matrix. The nanocomposites can be printed using stereolithography printers. The printed part is then converted to a transparent fused silica glass via thermal debinding and sintering (scale bar: 7 mm). b) Microfluidic Tesla mixer fabricated using microlithography (scale bar: 200 µm). (a,b) Reproduced with permission.33 Copyright 2017, Springer. c) Cavity filled with dyed water printed using direct ink writing of colloidal silica suspensions (scale bar: 4 mm). Reproduced with permission.36 Copyright 2017, Wiley. d) Erlenmeyer flask printed using hybrid sol‐gel precursors in a stereolithography printer. Reproduced with permission.37 Copyright 2018, American Chemical Society.

In assessing polymers as a rule in 3D printing, the team explains that most of them do not have high chemical stability, but fluoropolymers are different, offering very low surface energy.

“The combination of printed superhydrophobic Fluoropor structures with a hydrophilic surface such as glass allows fabricating patterned surfaces which have gained significant interest in chemical synthesis of rare chemicals in droplets or open surface microfluidic reactors,” state the researchers. “Since the polymerized Fluoropor samples possess a nonstructured top layer due to the polymerization process, superhydrophobic patterns can be fabricated by simply peeling off the last printed structured top layer. Future work will concentrate on superoleophobic/superoleophilic patterns enabling highly parallelized screening platforms for chemical synthesis.”

3D printing fluorinated polymers: a) Teflon part printed using stereolithography and sintering (scale bar: 1 mm). Reproduced with permission.27 Copyright 2018, IEEE. b) Microfluidic mixer structure fabricated by using PFPE methacrylates and commercial stereolithography printers (scale bar: 2 mm). Reproduced with permission.64 Copyright 2017, MDPI. c) High‐resolution woodpile structure in PFPE‐based resin structured using two‐photon polymerization (scale bar: 2 µm). Reproduced with permission.65 2013, American Chemical Society.

The scientists state that 3D printing does offer great potential for on-chip synthesis and includes the usual benefits of speed in production and greater affordability. They conclude by saying:

“Miniaturization also significantly increases experimental throughput due to the inherent reduction in volume, increased thermodynamic control, shorter diffusion distances, and thereby faster reactions. However, most prominent is the potential for massive parallelization which will be key for the exploration and assessment of the chemical reaction space (pressure, temperature, stoichiometry, catalysts, etc.), candidate drug screening as well as optimization of synthesis conditions. To fully leverage these advantages, the design of tailored 3D printing materials will be key.”

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source / Images: ‘

The Swedish carmaker Volvo developed 50 tiles for the Living Seawall

Oysters, seaweed, fish, algae and many more organisms have a new home at North Sydney Harbour. At one of the world’s largest Living Seawalls in Bradfield Park, an ocean conservation project brought together Swedish carmaker Volvo, Reef Design Lab, the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS) and the North Sydney Council to create an ecosystem for some of the most vibrant marine life using 3D printing.

For decades marine life had to look for other places to inhabit because more than 50% of the Sydney Harbour shoreline is armoured with seawalls, a form of coastal defence that protects against waves and tides. In tune with it’s sustainable vocation, the Swedish giant sought an opportunity that seeks to restore the balance of the ecosystem. Using 3D printing technology, experts have developed 50 tiles that have been installed along an existing seawall structure last October and were designed to mimic the root structure of native mangrove trees, becoming the home to thousands of living organisms.

Volvo explained in it’s website that “this endeavour aids biodiversity and attracts filter-feeding organisms that actually absorb and filter out pollutants – such as particulate matter and heavy metals – keeping the water clean.”

The loss of important ocean habitat due to an increase in urbanization near the coastlines, along with plastic-polluted water have reminded the Scandinavian company that a different approach to a sustainable cleanup might require more than just riding the planet of plastic garbage. The Living Seawall tiles have small geometries edged into the design to give marine life a place to live, usually seawalls are completely flat constructions without nooks, curves or cavities that organisms can use to colonize. The use of 3D printing technology is key to creating a mold that is cast in concrete and then reinforced with 100% recycled plastic fibers. According to Reef Design Lab, the 3D printed texture is really good for oyster colonization because it replicates the geometry of their shells. The collaborative project will remain in the water for at least the next two decades improving biodiversity and water quality, and will be monitored by specialists, like Melanie Bishop, associate professor of Macquarie University and one of the main researchers of living seawalls in Australia. SIMS explains in its website that “Sydney scientists have been leading the world in the study of the greening of seawalls for more than a decade,” and Bishop is evaluating this new approach for transforming entire seawalls into eco-friendly structures, which can be applied at coastline cities.

Volvo´s 3D printed tiles for the Living Seawall

The beautifully engineered hexagon shaped tile, or so-called ‘habitat tile’, developed by the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS) and Reef Design Lab, proved very promising after a small-scale trial in Sawmillers Reserve, those 108 tiles along with Volvo’s 50 mangrove-like tiles are ideal for marine life colonization. However, this is not the first and only attempt to improve the quality of oceans and seas, in 2017, University of Sydney scientists used 3D to track changes in coral reefs in an attempt to save the endangered underwater ecosystem. Another advocate of marine sustainability is Australian entrepreneur Darren Lomman, who launched the social enterprise GreenBatch, which is working to build a system that will reprocess plastic bottles into filament, to avoid the PET product ending up in our oceans. Also in line with water conservation philanthropy is Adidas, the company released sneakers created from recycled ocean waste three years ago. In New England, oyster growers use 3D printed structures to help restore the reef ecosystem.

The Living Seawall attached to the coastal seawall at Sydney Harbour

One of the partners of the Living Seawall, Reef Design Lab, is no newcomer to this type of undertaking. Led by designer Alex Goud, the Australian-based 3D printing innovators have been developing 3D printed habitat designs for seawalls since 2014. They first use computer models, then 3D print them and finally mould the designs in marine concrete.

As reported by the World Wildlife Funds’ last Living Planet Report, released in 2018, the Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years. This somber shadow of life lost is quickly becoming a concern and so many businesses are partnering with creative engineering designers and NGO’s to come up with ideas that will prevent further damage. This type of radical, disruptive and innovative thinking is what might just save the Earth’s water.

VIDEO

SmarTech Analysis is peering into the world of eyewear, with projections for the industry over the next decade in ‘Markets for 3D-Printed Eyewear 2019-2028.’ The company, a leader in commercial analysis, has turned their sights toward additive manufacturing in eyewear, which they predict will grow into an industry of $3.4 billion by 2028. Overall today, the ophthalmic eyewear industry brings in more than $100 billion per year and is growing due to increasing demand for a variety of styles and the obvious new opportunities for frames and glasses that are tailored specifically to consumers.

SmartTech foresees this massive profit potential being driven by final parts production in 3D printing, marking a turning point for the technology’s use in true manufacturing rather than just rapid prototyping with a continued reliance on conventional production techniques. And while eyewear may be only a sliver of what the 3D printing industry will be offering, the forthcoming financial projections show the potential for definite disruption in what has been a very structured business model previously without customers having nearly as much interaction in design, not to mention enjoying drastic speed in turnaround, and in many cases, price.

Current analysis is also designed to give industry stakeholders a summary of what types of technologies exist in additive manufacturing to include a wide range of materials and potential services, of which 3D capturing and online customization will play a major role as consumers seek goods that are made specifically to their needs, and fit. The report also goes into further detail regarding conventional methods such as tooling and casting—along with the benefits of 3D printing at the desktop for both production in volume and prototyping during the design process.

Currently, the most popular technology being used to create eyewear is material jetting, along with 3D printing in metal with powder bed fusion and the use of nylon 12 (PA122) most commonly.

“Vat photopolymerization is also used today mostly for lost wax casting processes (and some part production) while filament extrusion is used for basic desktop prototyping and some end-use internal parts,” said SmarTech in a recent press release.

Highlighted companies in the SmarTech report include Carbon, DWS, EOS, Formlabs, Fuel 3D, Glasses USA; Hoet, Hoya, HP, Luxexcel, Luxottica, Materialise, MONOQOOL, Mykita, Protos, Safilo, Sculpteo, Seiko, Sfered, Sisma, Specsy and more.

Analysis of 3D printing has become almost as popular as the actual innovative activity itself, a technology that lends itself to great fascination regarding the future—and most importantly, outlook and finances for many industries. Eyewear is certainly a market being revolutionized due to the myriad benefits of 3D printing, whether you are an athlete using custom eyewear, a fashion designer creating innovative frames, or a user looking for sunglasses. Find out more about SmartTech and their projections within the 3D printing industry here, and keep an ‘eye’ out here at 3DPrint.com for more on truly progressive frames and glasses.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Companies like GlassesUSA even allow consumers to 3D print their own eyewear frames. [Photo credit GlassesUSA and Sinterit]

https://youtu.be/R5_O8SR0lXo [Source:

]

3Dprint.com is an equity holder in SmarTech

Related posts

• 19 Ideas for Killer Lead Magnets
• Grow Your List from Day One with the GetResponse List Building Program