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WASP Launching Long-Term ‘3D Printing for Sustainable Living’ Construction Project http://bit.ly/2RaNVe7 In September, WASP, or the World’s Advanced Saving Project, debuted its new Crane construction 3D printer, in Italy. It’s actually a modular 3D printing system, or “infinity 3D printer,” with different configurations to choose from, and was presented to the public in Massa Lombarda, where the 3D printed village of Shamballa is being constructed. In October, a two-day program was held, starting with a conference titled “A call to save the world,” surrounding the introduction of WASP’s Crane 3D printer and its innovative 3D printed Gaia Module. The livable, tiny 3D printed house is the first structure that the WASP Crane 3D printed, and was made out of actual raw earth, with straw and rice husks added to the interior for insulation.
Now that the 3D printed architectural Gaia model is complete, WASP is beginning a brand new technological phase “in view of Expo 2020,” and kicking things off in 2019 with a long-term program called “3D Printing for Sustainable Living.” GAIA represents an important case study for understanding just what’s possible when using 3D printing in the construction industry. The 3D printed earth module is an important part of WASP’s new program, which focuses on developing construction process using digital fabrication and 3D printing in an effort to move towards an all-new concept of building houses.
The program centers around an advanced, eco-sustainable model of construction, especially due to the lower cost and higher interior comfort the walls in the Gaia model provide with their combination of raw earth and natural waste as construction materials. Some of the partners expected to work with WASP on its new project include a few universities, humanitarian associations, banking institutions and foundations, both public and private authorities, and several ministries, including Education, Health, Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, Infrastructure and Transport, Labor and Social Policies, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Food and Forestry Agricultural Policies and Tourism, and Economic Development. The project is based on six main macro-areas, starting with the promotion of human and material resources from the territory. This area features the capitalization of human knowledge, the use of renewable energy sources and materials found on site, the democratization of technology for the purposes of production, and using local manpower, rather than people with advanced training. The second project area is sustainable construction processes with low environmental impact, including such items as lowering construction costs, CO2 emissions, the use of concrete, and transport operations, as well as using natural waste and better planning out the construction life cycle. Recycled materials, like natural waste from the agricultural chain and rubble, make up the third area, while the fourth is centered around the digitalization of the construction site through features such as digital data acquisition through 3D scanning, site monitoring, using on-site measuring to lower the amount of mistakes, and constantly defining the correct spatial coordinates. Multi-purposes construction is the fifth project macro-area, which includes coordinating the use of multiple methods of digital fabrication like CNC technology, embedding supply facilities during initial construction rather than after, adding natural ventilation and thermal insulation right onto the walls, and using controlled material deposition to achieve high performance construction. Digital design is the final project area, and will focus on features including integrated design with BIM software, sharing digital contents available on the Internet, using a material optimization algorithm for construction, and making construction projects fully digital. With this new project, WASP hopes to become a leader in the housing market, due also to its network of collaborators that will help to foster and share the project. The company knows that are some real opportunities in the future for green building, and also plans to develop a new eco-district in order to implement its “3D Printing for Sustainable Living” project goals and set up new constructive strategies that can be replicated in multiple environments. VIDEO Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. [Images provided by WASP] Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 02:42PM
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Eco-Friendly 3D Printing at the Center of Designer’s Latest Collection http://bit.ly/2Tba89e 3D printing has done quite a bit for the fashion world, allowing designers to create new geometries and textures that have redefined the runway. The technology also enables designers to create sustainable garments, and that’s a major focus of Ganit Goldstein, a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Goldstein recently launched a collection called “Between the Layers,” which started as graduation project. Seven outfits and six pairs of shoes make up the collection, which was made from 3D printed PLA and TPU. Goldstein aimed to combine traditional techniques with new technologies for the collection.
Goldstein spent some time in Japan as part of an exchange program at the Tokyo University of the Arts. The country helped to inspire her new collection.
She began working with upcycling, shredding second-hand fabrics and industrial textile leftovers and then creating new garments using a Japanese textile technique called IKAT weaving.
When she returned home to Israel, Goldstein developed her own weaving process using a Prusa i3 Mk3 3D printer, combining the printing with hand-woven layers. Sustainability is an important value to her, and she appreciates 3D printing for the environmentally friendly opportunities it opens up.
Goldstein uses many reusable and recycled materials in her work, and would like to work more with recycled plastics in the future.
In addition to her own 3D printing and weaving techniques, Goldstein also worked with Stratasys to 3D print a pair of shoes, using a Connex3 color 3D printer. Lately she has been touring the world with her collection of 3D printed clothes and shoes, participating (and winning second place) in “Redress Design Award 2018” in Hong Kong, as well as in the 2018 “Arts of Fashion” Competition at The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
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Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 01:36PM Creature Comforts: 10 Ways 3D Printing Helped Animals This Year http://bit.ly/2SiPZOt Everyone loves a good animal story, and the 3D printing world has plenty of them. From animal prosthetics to implants to even robotic assistance for bees, 3D printing has helped animals just as much as it has helped people. Here are 10 of the standout stories from this year about how 3D printing has helped our animal friends to live their best lives. Dogs, Dogs, Dogs Some of the most frequent stories we hear are about dogs, and that’s no surprise, because people love their dogs as members of their families and are willing to do anything for them. That’s why a puppy named Bento ended up undergoing a complex surgery to repair his leg, which had been fractured when he was very young. A 3D printed model of Bento’s leg helped veterinarians to plan out his surgery ahead of time, resulting in an operation that was highly successful where previous ones had failed. Meanwhile, an Australian shepherd named Tucker was born missing several of the bones in one of his feet, making it difficult and painful for him to walk. His owner contacted a local university’s 3D printing club, which 3D printed him a prosthetic paw so that he could stand and walk more comfortably. A dachshund named Patches developed a tumor in her head and was facing a complicated, costly surgery – until veterinarians decided to try an alternative. A titanium skull cap was designed and 3D printed in a matter of weeks, and in a surgical procedure, the tumor was removed, along with the affected part of the dog’s skull. The skull was replaced by the 3D printed titanium skull cap, and Patches was able to recover quickly. For the Birds Peacocks can live up to 25 years, so Patches the peacock still had a long life ahead of him when he lost his foot to frostbite – but without help, he likely would have to be put down. In an example of the power of the Internet, Patches’ owner posted a YouTube video asking for help. The video was seen by a subscriber who posted the peacock’s story on Reddit, then found a model of a prosthetic bird foot and had it 3D printed and shipped to Patches’ family. Jary the hornbill developed a crack in his casque, which is the helmetlike structure on top of his bill. A veterinarian confirmed that the crack was caused by cancer, and would require surgery. A surgical team was able to remove the cancer, but that also involved removing a large part of the bird’s casque. He will regrow a new casque eventually, but until he does, Jary has a nice new 3D printed casque which he even dyed yellow with his own tail feathers. Hasan Kizil of Turkey is known as “the life repairer,” as he creates prosthetics and walkers for injured animals for free. When a child brought an injured eagle to him, Kizil used 3D printing to create a prosthetic foot, replacing the claws that the bird had lost. With part of its foot missing, the eagle was unable to take off and fly, but the 3D printed prosthetic allowed it to return to the sky. Elsewhere in the Animal Kingdom Daisy and Tim are two tortoises of vastly different sizes but with one thing in common – they both suffered from damaged shells. Daisy was struck by a car, while Tim was injured by an overly curious puppy. Both of the tortoises had the damaged parts of their shells replaced with 3D printed pieces. Both were able to recover nicely – and even became friends, as much as tortoises do. Kodiak the sloth was having dental troubles. An off-set jaw and elongated teeth made it difficult for him to eat, as he could not close his mouth properly. A team of veterinary, dental and medical professionals used CT scanning, 3D modeling and 3D printing to create a physical model of the sloth’s jaw, which was used to plan a tooth reduction surgery. It’s not only prosthetics, implants and medical models that have been used to help animals – 3D printing has also been used in some really creative ways to save entire species. An artist from Australia developed 3D printed robotic flowers to give bees safe sites for pollination, as genetic modification and pesticides have made many plants unsuitable for the insects. Finally, 3D printed robotic fish were created for the purpose of sparing real fish from experimentation – as well as being used to steer real zebra fish away from predators. Those are just a few of the ways in which 3D printing has saved the lives of animals, or made their lives better, this past year. 2017 saw plenty of animal stories as well, and as the new year approaches, there will undoubtedly be many more instances of 3D printing being used in new – as well as tried and true – ways to benefit the creature kingdom. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 12:39PM Creating Vascular Structures Using Low Cost Desktop 3D Printers http://bit.ly/2T3KbrY In a thesis entitled “Engineering of vascular networks within biocompatible hydrogels using 3D printing technology,” a PhD student named Juan Liu discusses the need for new technologies in wound healing. While skin flaps and grafts are the “gold standard” in clinical treatment of large skin and subcutaneous tissue defects, there are many complications that can arise from these treatments, and there is also the issue of not having enough skin to be able to harvest to cover particularly large wounds. 3D printing, however, using stem cells, allows for an unlimited amount of tissue to be created to heal large wounds. Using cells from the patient reduces the risk of rejection, as well. In order to create and maintain live tissue, however, vascularization is required, meaning that blood vessels need to be established, which is the tricky part of tissue engineering. Liu hypothesizes that open source desktop 3D printing technology can be used to design and fabricate “customized bio-artificial multicellular tissues with embedded vessel-like supply channels and corresponding bio-reactors for long-term 3D tissue culture.” Liu outlines the following objectives:
Liu goes on to demonstrate how 3D printing technology can be used to precisely form vascular structures within cell-laden hydrogels. He also creates “customized PLA and PDMS bioreactors for continuous perfusion and real-time operation.” The vascular structures formed within the cell-laded hydrogels, which were created by 3D printing, were able to increase the viability of the cells surrounding the vascular structures.
This model, he continues, could also be used to mimic natural tissue architecture and create bigger multilayer hydrogel constructs with corresponding layers of functional cells to study cell morphology, differentiation, and potential function of engineered tissue constructs.
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Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 11:03AM Top 10 Most Popular 3D Printing Videos of 2018 http://bit.ly/2RemnEF This is an overview of the most popular YouTube videos on 3D printing of 2018. 10. Engineers Created A New Bionic Arm That Can Grow With You Story of Daniel Melville and his making of 3D printed Hero for OpenBionics. A good video showcasing the possibilities of 3D printing. VIDEO 9. The Mii Channel Theme Using a 3D Printer Of all the great Make Anything videos its this one that becomes popular. VIDEO 8. 3D Printed Delusion Mouse Trap A video showcasing an old mousetrap brought back to life in 3D printing. Not sure why this is so popular VIDEO 7.3D Printer Makes the Perfect Chocolate Layer Video showing how the ChocoL3D extruder works. 3D printing chocolate is still huge. A realistic video showcasing using a chocolate extruder. VIDEO 6.New Story + ICON: 3D Printed Homes for the Developing World ICON 3D Printing story. No one has yet to explain to me how single story 3D printed homes in the developing will be easier and more affordable fordable than using local bricklayers. VIDEO 5. 3.4 million views. I 3D Printed a House & Lived in It… It Was the Best Day of My Life Some actual use of 3D printer before the muppet glues together some LEGO base plates. Puerile humor and abysmal production values. Not funny or educational. VIDEO 4. 4.1 million views. What can you do with a 3D printer? A first-time user’s first experiences with a 3D printer. A bit too keyed for my tastes up but generally a realistic view of what printing can do. Comes to the conclusion that printing is a question of time and patience as well as calibration which I would second. VIDEO 3. 4.2 million views. Fortnite Items in real life. More about the personality than the content this video piggybacks on the world’s most popular game. Video looks like it was shot by a drunk cameraman on a rollercoaster. Complete waste of time but the guy has really cool hair. VIDEO 2. 5.8 million views 3D Printed Infinity Gauntlet – Thanos Sculpture Timelapse Part 2 Piggybacking on the success of Avengers and its central hero Thanos (who did nothing wrong) this video shows you how to 3D print and hand finish an Infinity Gauntlet. Useful for learning how to make props, costumes and cosplay items. VIDEO 1. 6.5 million views 3D Printed Objects that Will Blow Your Mind Rather clickbaity with horrendous music this zoomed in video shows off some desktop 3D prints. VIDEO
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 10:54AM
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3D Printing Shows What Humans Could Look Like If They Were Optimized for Living on Mars http://bit.ly/2GQtGP1 There is a great deal of talk these days about colonizing Mars, and about the conditions that would need to be met in order to live and thrive there. 3D printing has been a big part of the conversation, as the technology would likely be used to build much of what humans need, including shelter. But there hasn’t been as much talk about what might happen to humans long term living on Mars. Would we evolve, based on the different conditions on a foreign planet? Marta Flisykowska speculates about this in a paper entitled “Application of Incremental Technologies in Consideration of Transhumanist Aesthetics – Project ‘Who Nose‘”. In 2017, Flisykowska points out, NASA published the results of the Human Research Program, which was launched in an effort to find out more about the impact of long stays in space on the human body. Vastly different conditions will be present on Mars, such as lower temperatures, a less dense atmosphere, higher radiation and more. In the face of these conditions, what might humans evolve to look like? The depiction of extraterrestrials in literature and pop culture “often extended to the point of kitsch,” says Flisykowska, but these depictions were also based on ideas about the types of conditions that these creatures lived in. Flisykowska focuses on the nose as having the most potential for change, as it is made from soft tissue and is easily alterable through plastic surgery. A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania showed that the width of people’s nostrils was influenced by the climate in which their ancestors lived; those from warm and humid climates had wide nostrils while those from cold and dry climates had narrower ones. For her own study, Flisykowska 3D printed several different noses that could potentially be part of humans’ future appearance on Mars. One possible adaptation is a long nose with double nostrils, which would make it easier to warm up air, as well as to practice breathing techniques for relaxation purposes. Another is a flat nose that would be less prone to sunburn and would also be better suited to the long-term use of a helmet. Still another resembles a sort of radiator, to promote a more resonant voice.
The “Who Nose” project does not necessarily claim that humans will evolve these drastically different noses if they begin living on Mars, but illustrates some possibilities in terms of 3D printing and plastic surgery to better equip us for different conditions. These different designs could even affect our lives here on Earth. We have already 3D printed a transplantable ear, Flisykowska argues, so why not a nose? And if we can 3D print it, why does it have to look the same as it has always looked? 3D printing could open new doors in terms of body modification, allowing us to be in charge of our own evolution, in a manner of speaking. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 08:54AM Engineering Simulation for 3D Printing Interview with Chris Robinson of ANSYS http://bit.ly/2LCrUzG Chris Robinson is the Senior Manager of ANSYSAdditive Software Development at ANSYS. ANSYSis a billion dollar revenue company that is huge in engineering simulation software. ANSYS software is used to test, simulate, design and improve designs in many industries. Perhaps not very well known outside the area that it dominates ANSYS simulation tools are used on many of the products that surround you. ANSYS can be used to simulate how your electronic circuits will perform, reduces the cost of making embedded software, predicts how fluids behave, is used by all large semiconductor foundries and also for the analysis of structures. With the acquisition of Brent Stucker’s 3DSimANSYS also firmly moved into the simulation for 3D printing market. In metal 3D printing, a build can take a few days, tumbling and other post-processing can take a few days as well. It would kind of suck to print a part on Monday and to then find out on Friday through a CT scanner that it is cracked inside. At the same time printing a novel geometry in metal printing is difficult as well. Support strategy design is an art as well as a science. You may have to print half a dozen parts to get it right. This is even more frustrating because 10k and two weeks later you find out that your part is too expensive. ANSYS hopes to rid us of these inefficiencies. We interviewed Chris Robinson to find out more. Chris worked for NAVAIR, the US Naval Air System’s Command where he headed up their polymer and ceramics manufacturing and helped roll out 3D printing for the Navy. Later he worked for Boeing on sintering and FDM materials and technologies before joining 3DSim and later ANSYS. Chris has deep experience in 3D printing for aviation across a number of technologies and we asked him to tell us what ANSYS is hoping to do. What is ANSYS?
What do you offer the 3D Printing market?
Why should I buy your product?
How important is a simulation in 3D printing? What advantages does it give me?
Can I iterate with ANSYS just like I would with printing?
How can ANSYS let me do Agile Engineering?
Can ANSYS help me with qualifying parts for aviation and things like that?
Are you able to predict only DMLS or also other 3D printed parts?
What would be the workflow of me using ANSYS to generate the right supports? Predict part stress?
What kind of customers work with you?
What advice would you have for an industrial company looking to manufacture using metal printing?
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 24, 2018 at 02:24AM Paul Benning Chief Technologist 3D Printing at HP Predicts 3D Printing Developments in 201912/23/2018
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Paul Benning Chief Technologist 3D Printing at HP Predicts 3D Printing Developments in 2019 http://bit.ly/2rReEOk Paul Benning is the 3D Print and Microfluidics Chief Technologist at HP. Before that he was an HP Fellow and the Chief Technologist of their imaging and printing division. He’s a noted expert in nanotech, microfluidics, and inkjet with a Ph.D. in Material Science. I’m really impressed with the caliber of people at HP and the amount of thought that they put into their technology and all of the aspects that surround their technology. I, therefore, jumped at the chance to interview Paul about some key trends for 2019. I’m glad that we got to learn that HP is able to print circuits on its machines and that they’re going to be incorporating machine learning into manufacturing. I’m also glad that Paul’s predictions are firmly rooted in practice science and manufacturing and not in “dream a little dream” blah blah like so many predictions. Machine learning could significantly reduce scrap rates in 3D printing, is this something you would expect to happen in the near term?
How do you see machine learning and 3D printing interact?
Can machine learning be used to reduce part shrinkage for example?
Do you really think that generative design will make designers faster? How?
To what extent will simulation improve generative design so that parts can be optimized?
Do you also expect toolpath optimization for particular geometries?
And if we do how do we feed this information back into generative design software?
I’ve always found it rather tantalizing that with the HP 3D printing technology you could put lots of coatings on objects. With porosity and surface quality being so problematic for us, is coating parts something that you’re looking at?
Can we expect circuits and conductive materials from HP 3D printing?
With binder jetting metals won’t we always have a problem with part shrinkage? And won’t that always be terrible because shrinkage will vary due to part geometry and size?
How can you ensure that these parts have the right tolerances?
What are some application areas for 3D printing that you see opening up?
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 23, 2018 at 09:27AM
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3D Printing News Briefs: December 22, 2018 http://bit.ly/2A8A9yD Starting with fashion news, moving to automotive, and finally on to business, we’ve got a short but interesting 3D Printing News Briefs for you today. An Israeli fashion and shoe designer just introduced a 3D printed collection at a San Francisco museum, while Bugatti just tested out its 3D printed brake caliper. Roboze has three new points of contact for customers in North America, and Titomic has signed its second MoU of the week for metal powders. 3D Printed Fashion Collection on Display Ganit Goldstein, an Israeli fashion design student at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem whose work we’ve admired before, recently collaborated with Stratasys on her graduation collection, titled “Between the Layers,” which consists of six pairs of 3D printed shoes and seven 3D printed outfits. The high-end, haute couture collection was inspired by her time in Japan learning a traditional weaving technique called ‘ikat’ at the Tokyo University of the Arts, and all of the pieces were 3D printed on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer by Stratasys. The 3D printed shoes from Goldstein’s collection were unveiled earlier this week at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum as part of the “Arts of Fashion Foundation” International Student Fashion Competition, of which Goldstein is a finalist.
Bugatti Tests 3D Printed Brake Caliper Last year, super car manufacturer Bugatti revealed that it had created the world’s first 3D printed titanium brake caliper, which was also the largest brake caliper in the automotive industry, as well as the world’s largest 3D printed titanium pressure functional component ever produced. Bugatti worked with Laser Zentrum Nord, part of the Fraunhofer research organization, to develop the caliper, and vehicle trials for the part in series production were expected to start in early 2018. Earlier this week, the Volkswagen Group posted a YouTube video showing an impressive test run of the 3D printed titanium brake caliper developed by Bugatti. See it for yourself below: VIDEO Roboze Announces Three New Customer Points of Contact Italian 3D printer manufacturer Roboze is continuing its expansion, and this week announced the names of its three new points of contact for its customers in the US, Canada, and Colombia, which will help it create direct channels in the North American market. This news comes right after the company announced that it had closed its first funding round of €3 million to further develop its R&D department and continue its EMEA and USA market expansion. Its first new partner is ImageNet Consulting, based in Oklahoma City with a total of 18 US offices. The company chose to work with Roboze because of its high quality 3D printed parts and ability to use flame retardant materials. Ontario consulting company TM3 is working with Roboze because it provides the best opportunity for its customers to use a true industrial platform. Based in Medellin, Colombia, i3D is an expert in FDM technology and was impressed with the high quality of parts that were exhibited by Roboze at RAPID 2018. Titomic Signs MoU with Sino-Euro The day after announcing its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Lasting Titanium, Australia metal 3D printing company Titomic announced that it had also signed an MoU with Sino-Euro Materials Technologies of Xi’An Co. Ltd, a Chinese company that specializes in producing spherical powder for the plasma rotating electrode process (PREP). According to the terms of the MoU, which is effective immediately, Sino-Euro will be appointed as Titomic’s Chinese sales distributor and customer support for its Kinetic Fusion systems. It will also provide Titomic with an exclusive supply of its aerospace grade titanium PREP process powders, and develop new metal powder for the Titomic Kinetic Fusion systems.
Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 22, 2018 at 03:06AM 3DPrint.com The Year in Review: 3D Printing 2018 http://bit.ly/2PWuxg3 2018 was a very exciting year in 3D Printing. If we look at the big trends we can see the rise of startups with tens of millions in investment, market entry by multibillion-dollar companies especially polymer companies and increased automation. In the background, we can see the very public fading of the desktop printer on every desktop dream but the new realization that 3D printing might be suited for manufacturing. Overall 2018 was a year of professionalization with everyone focusing on higher-end products and end-use applications. And 2018 was the year of centers for excellence for 3D printing. The Starbucks of our world. For 3DPrint.com there was a shakeup in our pantheon of writers, renewed long-term partnerships with industry leaders and a focus on quality. With higher quality articles, fact-checking, more analysis and scrutiny we seem to have become less popular with certain companies. But, the higher quality seems to appeal to those who count, our readers. They’ve repeatably reached out to us to give us feedback and thank us for our new path. Our pageviews and unique visitors have also increased substantially during the period validating our approach. In tandem we have found new advertisers and industry partners who appreciate this new more difficult but more rewarding path. For this and your continued support, we’d like to thank you for a fantastic year in 2018. Below is a selection of our news over these past months. We couldn’t possibly expect to filter out the most significant news items because this would be subjective. Instead, we’ve made a selection out of our most popular news stories and those that were very important or those that were oft-recurring or indicative of bigger trends and movements in our industry. Is your story missing? Maybe I forgot it! Add it below in the comments. January GE Engineers learn, iterate and grow through 3D printing. The year started with Sciaky reporting record metal 3D printer sales for the previous month. This would be a leitmotiv for the year with metal sales, investment and commercialization exploding. This year ten times more industrial metal printers were sold than a few years ago. 3D Systems and Stryker partner for surgical planning, a growing area. Bioprinting promoted in the US by RegenHU and Wako. Auroralabs partner and they’re not the last to partner this year. February Addidas and Carbon print shoes. Stoke med reports advances in patient-specific models. Patient-specific medical applications were on the rise throughout the year with patient-specific solutions being developed in polymers and metals for ortho but also things such as braces. NASA tests 3D printed RS engines. BASF partners with Farsoon and BigRep. Materials giant BASF is investing heavily in 3D Printing. Through investments in Materialise and partnerships with Farsoon and other OEMs the company wants to place itself in the driving seat of materials development and learning. Meanwhile, many other materials companies are piling in. March Small-scale rockets developed for NASA. Rocketry and 3D printing for space was a huge interest area for us this year. 3D Printing lowers the development cost of new space vehicles and rockets. A lot of work is being done in part count reduction and weight savings on rocket propulsion specifically. Openbionics introduces the Hero arm. Open source hardware and 3D printing for medical orthoses and the like has been developing quickly as has Openbionics. Hot Lithography, kind of like stereolithography but then hawt. E3D develops tool head changer print head. The ever-innovative E3D folks made a tool head changing 3D printer, an idea that everyone had but no one got around to doing. Wipro opens a 3D printing research center. Research centers were a trend as is the fast-growing Indian 3D printing market. Chinese researchers use SLM Solutions machines to build nuclear components. China is making higher quality parts and products and this kind of research is a good signifier of that happening in our industry as well. GKN develops new steel for automotive applications. Two megatrends the car industry and metal printing intertwined. Open source desktop bioprinter released by Carnegie Mellon. So far open source and DIY bioprinters have not made a lot of impact yet but this could greatly reduce the costs of bioprinting. Raise introduces Pro 2 3D printers. Raise and others are making higher quality higher value printers with features such as cameras and build chamber temperature control this is an example of the third wave of 3D printing companies that are focusing on user experience. Aon 3D prints with high-temperature materials. PEEK, PEI and high-temperature materials were a trend as were the high-temperature 3D printers to process them. April The US Naval Air Systems command predicts over a 1000 flying parts by years end. Sandia works on wind turbines. Sandia has played an outsized role in the development of 3D printing and now is moving more to large format applications. Jabil introduces a manufacturing network. Large companies trying to engage with 3D printing is a definite trend as is Jabil’s fundamental approach to adopting 3D printing internally. Cellulose used as 3D printing material. Cellulose was explored a few times this year but was part of a much bigger sustainability trend. 4D printing self-folding objects is also something that persists. DSM partners with Ultimaker and introduces materials. Yet another large material company entering the market in a strong way. ANSYS introduces new simulation tools for 3D printing. ANSYS and Materialise both were hard at work releasing simulation software to speed up 3D printing workflows. Stratasys makes parts for the Orion spacecraft. Polymers in space? Yes we can. Stratasys introduces PEI and Carbon Fiber optimized systems and expanded software. Stratasys spent a lot of time optimizing its systems for particular end use parts and applications while expanding GrabCAD. EOS makes a machine for Boeing. May SABIC introduces new materials, another huge company expanding in 3D printing. Biomodex and Intamsys get funding. Financing was all around this year especially for companies with business to business propositions. Concrete houses to be 3D printed. Much of the 3D printed concrete news this year was lies, fraudulent or overclaim. If you noticed that we skipped a lot of concrete 3D printing stories, then it was because they were false. This one we verified but we still don’t know if it will work. Solukon releases depowdering machine. Post-processing equipment to optimize 3D printing for manufacturing was a huge trend this year. HP Shows off Multi Jet Fusion. HP’s market entry and continued investments are huge news and changing our industry. Singapore researchers looking to recycle thermosets. Improving thermosets was a big trend as was continued investment and research in Singapore that wishes to be a 3D printing focal point. Formlabs introduces ceramic resins. This Formlabs development combines a trend in expanded desktop materials with that of more functional resins and that of expanded use of ceramics in 3D printing. Titomic partners with Fincantieri. The marine sector is almost totally unexplored in 3D printing but the first real moves are happening this year. Bioink used to 3D print corneas. The development of bioinks and their expanding uses was a huge trend as well. June Soft robot uses shape memory. I’m a huge fan of soft robotics and think that it will change many things. Research in this area is growing. Olivier van Herpt introduces porcelain. Olivier’s highly productive ceramic printer continues to innovate outpacing the rest. Lawrence Livermore prints a nuclear warhead. This has been going on for over a decade but its nice of them to share. 3Doodler announces new 3D printing pen. We don’t always write about 3D printing pens but millions are in the hands of consumers. FIT and Roboze expand globally. Service bureau stalwart FIT and new player Robooze expand across the world a huge trend of expanding partnerships, resellers and offices happened this year. Mantis shrimp inspires composite materials. Bioinspired designs were huge this year as were 3D printing composites. Henkel and LPW expand facilities showing us real investment in thermosets and metal powders. A postal company opens a 3D printing portal thanks to 3Yourmind. New market-entry by new kinds of players and alternatives to Materialise software are also significant trends. July Soft robots zigzag through sand. This 3D printed origami fish catching device story was huge for us and encapsulates using folding in real life applications. 3D print astronauts in space, what could be cooler than that? 3D printed guns were huge this year in the media but not really in real life. So we stood against it. Femtoprint, nanoprinting, and microfluidicswill build into a huge technological development over the coming decade. BASF also took a strategic investment in Materialise and we wondered what it meant. There were many companies doing space-related deals at aviation shows such as RUAG and Additive Industries. 3D Printing circuits was also a burgeoning thing in 2018. Drones were big as was using 3D printing for agriculture this story unites both. Victrex made new PAEK materials available. A Master’s Degree in 3D Printing? Lots of education initiatives exploded in 2018. Printrbot closed its doors which shocked many. 3D printed bones? Lots of articles. Lattice structures? Our very own Despacito. 3D printed bone lattice structures? Hell’s yeah. August Nothing ever happens in August. Satellites printed and made more lightweight were a recurring theme. I read an awful lot of fatigue response articles in 2018. Shapercrunch is part of a trend whereby 3D printing startups are not only in the states or Europe. Using 3D scanning and 3D printing in museums grew a lot. DigitalAlloys says surprise and comes out of nowhere with a new 3D printing technology. A few years ago 3D printing chocolate was a surefire winner in terms of traffic. In 2018? Guns or 3D printing coral reefs. Carbon nanotubes are probably a health risk. Velo3D came out of nowhere with an exciting new metal technology. Lots of companies are working on controlling the 3D printing octagon eg controlling all of the variables including software and procedures to get better 3D printing results. Research in hydrogel composites exploded in 2018. We looked at where all of this 3D printing research is coming from. Flexible thermosets/photopolymers were all the rage as well. September Metrology, QA and parts measurement were quickly growing activities. With Xaar joining the fray, the hype around binder jetting metal 2018 could be the year of the inkjet. Minifactory makes a capable large expensive open FDM machine capable of PEEK and PEI. Spurned on by automotive and aerospace that is a real trend. Kai Witter of Dyemansion talks costs and uses actual numbers to determine how effective their post-processing equipment is. Everyone is always trying to control this unruly melt pool. Dyze Design is part of a new group of specialized nozzle design and manufacturing companies that aim to challenge the status quo. Lots of people wanted to 3D print silicone and ACEO spread to the US. AddUp spins out of Michelin and starts to gobble up the French 3D printing industry. 3DHubs killed off its hubs, focuses on B2B, still confuses me. Evolve additive spins out of Stratasys. 3DGence makes a capable high-end desktop machine. HP to make metal 3D printers. All that glitters is probably gold nanoparticles. Knitting was big as was concrete. Twikit and BMW offer mass customization together. Biodegradable medical devices such as stents were a trend. Carpenter bought LPW postioning it for growth in high-end powder. Consultants? 3D Printing Consultants, everywhere. Nscrypt brought some truly amazing ideas and performance to market in bioprinting and electronics. Xjet built an applications center to roll out its technology globally. The Goldilocks choice faced by metal printing companies. Using a MIG welder for a metal printer is about as low cost as we can imagine it. November Qualifying aerospace brackets, a multi multi million dollar priority for many. This hybrid open die forging and DMLS technology still blows us away. Electrically conductive filament printed on desktop machines was happening a lot. Bioassemblybot wants to use contour printing to print directly onto people. Spare parts for my washing machine? Finally. Collective mic drop, we’re done now. In-cabin 3D printing for aviation was growing. Happily, there was more research into the air quality of 3D printing. 3D printing meat and other foods was growing but will explode in 2019. Essentium was another well-financed startup with a highly productive technology. The AutoAdd project showed us that car manufacturing and 3D printing can be a reality. LSS’s new Airbus based sintering technology showcases the minitrend that 3D printing maintenance companies are providing innovation in sintering. Additive Industries partners with Volkswagen. Solvay marks another company joining our industry in force. December Another episode in the resurgence of sintering service organizations in 2018 is the EOS Integra machine made completely separately of all the other EOS machines. Sadly 3D printing and the law, especially IP law was an issue this year. Charged aerosol focusing is an interesting technology. Operational studies and research on real parts was a growing area. Breast cancer and cancer research using 3D printing was also a trend. The Fraunhofer sisters did some truly amazing research this year including this. In secret 3D printing antennae is a huge business but now people are doing public research into the area. GE makes a big investment in 3D printing in Australia. Optomec expands vertically in gas turbines. Autodesk makes a large toolbox. I hope that you’ve had a wonderful 3D printing year and wish you another!
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 22, 2018 at 02:21AM |
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