3D Printing News Briefs January 28 2023: Bronze-Steel Alloys 3D Printing on Textiles & More1/28/2023
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3D Printing News Briefs, January 28, 2023: Bronze-Steel Alloys, 3D Printing on Textiles, & More https://ift.tt/8norz3C We’re starting with research in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as a research team based out of China developed a new approach for 3D printing hydrogel-based electronics. Also, researchers in Russia are 3D printing samples of bronze-steel alloys, which could show great promise for aircraft and rocket engines. 3DEO launched a new metal for high-volume 3D printing. Finally, a new PEUGEOT concept car features 3D printing on textiles, thanks to Stratasys technology. 3D Printing Hydrogel-Based Electronics 3D printed all-hydrogel ECG electrode. Credit: Hui et al.
3D polymer networks called hydrogels retain large amounts of liquids, rather than dissolving in water, which makes them excellent material platforms for environmental and biomedical applications. Many electronic devices based on soft hydrogels, like sensors, artificial tissue, and drug delivery devices, have been created, but high production costs hinder widespread use. But a team of researchers, led by Dr. Nanjia Zhou at Westlake University in China, developed a new approach to 3D printing soft hydrogel electronics that could help keep costs down for hydrogel-based devices. The goal of their study was to come up with a more efficient way to print complex, biomedically useful hydrogel-based electronics, using a stretchable silver-hydrogel ink and a hydrogel-based supporting matrix. By combining granular gel particles with a conductive filler (silver flakes), they could form a segregated structure in the highly conductive 3D printing ink. The researchers tested their method by freeform printing several hydrogel-based electronics, including biological electrodes, inductors, and strain sensors, which performed very well and could pave the way for fabrication of more sophisticated hydrogel-based electronics, including biomedical devices and environmental monitors.
Novel Bronze-Steel Alloys Could 3D Print Engine Combustion Chambers A vertical bar made of a quasi-homogeneous bronze-steel alloy manufactured by the researchers. Credit: Konstantin Makarenko/Skoltech.
A team of researchers from Russia’s Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) decided to blend the distinct properties of two metals in an “unlikely union.” The researchers 3D printed samples of a novel bronze-steel alloy that’s previously unknown to materials science, and found that the resulting mechanical characteristics could be beneficial in fabricating combustion chambers for aircraft and rocket engines, due to the capacity of bronze to conduct heat away from the chamber and steel’s ability to withstand extreme temperatures. In their study, the team used direct laser deposition, which melts and fuses powdered ingredients with a laser beam at each successive point in the metal part during its creation, and this was reportedly the first-ever synthesis of a bronze-steel alloy using this technology. The team combined the metals in two different ways: quasi-homogeneous alloys, which has the materials mostly evenly intermixed, and sandwich structures, which consists of alternating 0.25 mm thick layers of the metals. By printing vertical bars from the bottom up and examining their microstructure, shape, and chemical composition, they determined that the two materials fused well, with no defects forming.
3DEO Introduces 316L Stainless Steel for High-Volume 3D Printing
Design, engineering, and manufacturing firm 3DEO, which is the world’s highest volume metal 3D printing service, has launched 316L stainless steel for 3D printing. The non-magnetic, fully austenitic material exceeds MIM standards, and is weldable, very corrosion resistant, and has excellent ductility and mechanical performance. In addition, it performs very well at both room and moderately elevated temperatures, and all of these features make it a good choice for applications in industries such as marine, food processing, industrial, and medical. 316L joins 3DEO’s existing 17-4PH stainless steel, and marks its latest materials expansion, though the company is currently testing several other new materials, including pure copper, that are set to be released later this year.
3D Printing on Textiles in PEUGEOT Concept Car
The new PEUGEOT INCEPTION CONCEPT car is the Stellantis Group‘s vision for the future of electric vehicles, and also features the use of 3D printing, thanks to a collaboration between Peugeot and Stratasys. The car’s name itself means “the beginning,” and adoption of 3D printing continues to grow at Stellantis, formed in 2021 on the basis of a merger between Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group. Peugeot is actually a brand of PSA, an early Divergent investor that has used AM in the past to fabricate custom parts and accessories for the vehicle line. The floor and seats of the new PEUGEOT INCEPTION CONCEPT are covered in a special velvet, which was made of 100% recycled polyester. The velvet extends to the floor, and was then printed with 3D patterns, using Stratasys’ 3DFashion technology, to act as a car floor mat. 3D printing was also used to make final parts, like the Hypersquare control system, more comfortable by improving the ergonomics. The Hypersquare’s rim is also 3D printed. While Stellantis hasn’t yet addressed the use of 3D printing for serial part production in the PEUGEOT INCEPTION CONCEPT, but higher batch applications could be considered in the future if the value proposition fits the overall cost scheme. This could be an indication that most car manufacturers know that 3D printing could be the future.
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Startup to 3D Print Data Centers Using $7M in Funding https://ift.tt/rV9nxfl EdgeCloudLink (ECL), a Silicon Valley-based startup, has received $7 million in seed round funding from Hyperwise Ventures, based in Tel Aviv, and Molex Ventures, headquartered in Chicago, to drive its mission to 3D print hydrogen-powered data centers on demand. Pitching itself as a “data center-as-a-service” company, ECL will use the $7 million to create its first concrete-printed, modular data center powered with a hydrogen fuel cell stack, fed with hydrogen gas.
ECL is building the data center in a warehouse adjacent to its main office in Mountain View, Calif., the heart of Silicon Valley, home to Google headquarters as well as a whole host of other major tech companies and institutions. ECL founder and CEO Yuval Bachar commented in an interview with Data Center Dynamics:
Though the exact method of additive construction that the startup will use isn’t disclosed, a partner is lined up to print the facility. ECL claims, once the first project is complete, it will purchase the 3D printing equipment itself. Bachar told Data Center Dynamics that the actual construction of the data center is simple, consisting of two thin walls filled with insulation. “They’re building homes, and our requirements are much much simpler than a home. A data center is just a rectangle. We don’t need sophisticated stuff. We don’t have windows,” Bachar said. “It’s it’s a very, very strong structure and a very very insulated structure, which means that the elements outside have a much smaller impact on the inside.”
In addition to the hydrogen fuel cell stacks, the data centers can also draw power from the local grid. But the idea of customers’ having the ability to power the data centers with individual generators is obviously the most exciting angle to this, especially if the pilot program — which ECL is planning to complete as early as Q2 of 2023 — shows that the technology can truly achieve a net-zero carbon footprint. That last aspect, which is as crucial to the project’s potential sustainability as the ability to produce on demand, will obviously be banking on the ready availability of hydrogen gas. Thus, in that sense, the project’s success will also be depending on the success of hydrogen-powered EVs. Although that is still certainly a long shot, California is one place where there is some such infrastructure in place, which also argues in favor of CA as the site of ECL’s pilot program. ECL’s CEO also pointed out to Data Center Dynamics that the hydrogen-powered data centers could sell excess electricity back to the electrical grid, an increasingly common practice amongst homeowners with solar-powered residences. In turn, the product’s greatest selling point, long-term, could be its potential utility to the electrification of the power grid. Images courtesy of ECL The post Startup to 3D Print Data Centers Using $7M in Funding appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/AxWScCO January 27, 2023 at 10:45AM Board of Governors to meet Feb. 9 https://ift.tt/bmeoPn0 WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors will meet Feb. 9, 2023, in open session at Postal Service headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC. Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/7zg1Q6r January 27, 2023 at 08:59AM
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All-Female Vehicle Builds and International Trade Anchor Women in 3D Printing Conference in Dreams and Reality https://ift.tt/u4IXx3L Women in 3D Printing (Wi3DP) hosted its third annual Technology, Industry, People, Economics (TIPE) Conference and, from an attendee’s perspective, it seemed to go off without a hitch. We should have a better sense of the numbers as the event wraps up. However, it was a clear success based on the sheer number of panelists and speakers providing quality content across four tracks catering to all the world’s time zones easily. As someone based in the U.S., I followed the primary time zone, meaning that the major keynote addresses were given at 9 am PST. These included a fireside chat between Wi3DP President Kristin Mulherin and Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade at the White House, as well as a presentation by non-profit Girl Gang Garage. These two keynotes contrasted each other well in terms of content and style. The Role of the International Trade AdministrationLago spoke to the role of the International Trade Administration (ITA), what it does domestically and internationally, as well as how this can apply to 3D printing businesses. Relying on a network of trade specialists around the country and the world, the ITA engages with counterparts in foreign nations to attract trade, specifically in terms of exports of U.S. goods and cultivating local environments that encourage U.S. trade.
Interestingly, Lago noted that the trade specialists in the ITA’s network “know the formal rules, but perhaps as importantly, they know the informal rules of how business gets done in these countries around the globe.” For anyone who has studied global trade to any degree, the idea of “informal rules” of business will conjure up things like the Al-Yamamah arms deal or the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. Nevertheless, Lago said that the ITA focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), historically underserved communities, minority-owned businesses and woman-owned businesses. She went on to describe how SMEs can access the global market, such as speaking to a local US Export Assistance Center to assist in selling internationally, providing market intelligence, performing business-to-business matchmaking, and addressing trade obstacles an exporter has encountered. For businesses outside of the U.S., Lago suggested participation in the Select USA Conference, where companies and funds large and small meet economic development organizations from states and cities across the U.S., as well as governors, cabinet officials, and business leaders. Specifically, for those in the 3D printing industry, Lago said that the ITA performs export promotion, which included an advanced manufacturing trade mission that went to Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan last October. As a result of the pandemic, the ITA also initiated virtual and hybrid trade missions, which can include business matchmaking. The ITA is also interested in working with additive experts on developing standards. Lago’s Advice for Women in STEMOther topics that Lago addressed were her own experiences as a woman in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She suggested that progress in this area is slow, but that, since she first had a female boss at age 55, she has only had female bosses. Moving forward, Largo urged the following:
Merging a 1961 Volvo with a 2019 Volvo HybridLago’s chat provided a contrast with the next day’s keynote from members of Arizona-based Girl Gang Garage, a non-profit dedicated to educating and empowering women to participate in the trades and automotive industry through all-female vehicle builds. In addition to outlining the story of the organization, founder Bogi Lateiner, alongside members Anne Pauely and Pam Waterman, discussed one of their most recent projects, which relied heavily on 3D printing and 3D scanning, to combine the body of a 1961 Volvo PV544 with the chassis, drivetrain, and the modern electronics of a 2019 Volvo S60 hybrid. To promote TIPE ahead of the event, Pauley appeared on ASME’s AM News Live video podcast alongside myself earlier in the week. The lively group showcased videos and photos to illustrate the impressive journey to create what came to be called the Iron Maiden. Encapsulating the challenge of this two-year build, Pauley described it as “integrating electronics and the chassis and everything from a much, much bigger vehicle into this teeny tiny little classic car body. Basically, think about squeezing a new Volvo sedan into a classic Volkswagen vehicle, and you’ll get the idea.” Knowing that 3D printing would be integral to the project, Lateiner was connected with polymer printer manufacturer Stratasys early on. The company then tapped its southwestern distributor Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies (PADT) to assist, with PADT Senior Application Engineer Pam Waterman learning how to use a handheld scanner essentially on-site to create a digital twin of the older vehicle and the small components from the newer one. Leveraging this scan data over the course of a week-and-a-half spent at the garage in Phoenix, Anne Pauley was able to use her CAD expertise to transform the data into what was necessary for the build.
Using a Stratasys F370 3D printer and an Origin One, the team was able to iterate and complete a number of 3D printed parts. All components were essentially custom, with no off-the-shelf elements available for such a novel project. This included: door handles, the antenna, camera mounting and casing for the exterior and, for the interior, an entirely custom cabin air duct and a suspension adapter, among other things.
Pauley explained just how unique some of the elements were in attempting to combine the classic aesthetic of the PV544 with the modern pieces of the S60:
3D Printing to Extend Vehicle LifeSeeing the project, I was inspired by the possibilities for the resource scarcity humanity is in the process of creating. Nearly every year since it was created in 1971, Earth Overshoot Day has seen humanity’s demand for natural resources outpace the planet’s ability to regenerate those resources at a faster rate. When it comes to two crucial ingredients for electric vehicles, lithium and cobalt, virgin supplies seem to have near dwindled. For these reasons and more, recycling and 3D printing will play increasingly important roles in reusing these scarce materials. The Iron Maiden project is a demonstrator of just how such initiatives could result in completely unique solutions to this problem. Lateiner spoke to this issue:
Pauley contributed:
Girl Gang Unveils the Iron Maiden
The completed Iron Maiden. Image courtesy of Girl Gang Garage on Instagram. The Iron Maiden was ultimately unveiled at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) event in Las Vegas in November 2022. About it, Lateiner said:
As rewarding as the experience was, Girl Gang Garage is taking a break from large builds, according to Lateiner. Instead, it will spend 2023 focusing on educational opportunities, potentially with assistance from Stratasys and Autodesk. Altogether, both Lago and Girl Gang Garage served to frame the entire TIPE event by showcasing how female actors—and specifically those with a feminist mindset—are serving to drive technology, industry, people, and economics forward, in 3D printing and everywhere. As we experienced other elements of the event (to be covered in subsequent posts), these important keynotes anchored them in the astounding accomplishments of players like Lago, Lateiner, and others. These presentations highlighted just what can be done by a group like Wi3DP when driven by a crucial and inspiring mission, such as bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the AM industry and beyond. The post All-Female Vehicle Builds and International Trade Anchor Women in 3D Printing Conference in Dreams and Reality appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/AxWScCO January 27, 2023 at 08:49AM
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Archipelago: Further Segmentation of the 3D Printing Industry https://ift.tt/pJDKP3Q A few weeks ago, I wrote an article spotting a future trend, first noticed by Autodesk´s Alexander Oster, towards a commoditization of the powder bed fusion portion of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry. But, there is more going on than just that. By interviewing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), industrial users of 3D printers, large enterprise 3D printing users, and suppliers to the industry, I think that there is more segmentation ahead. For the first time we’re truly starting to see differentiation and further divergence of needs from players in our industry. This is happening at a time when that divergence could lead to truly different segments that work more like interconnected vats than a truly global market. At the same time, we’re seeing a proliferation of materials, software, and services that are geared towards catering to these diverging segments. I thought that it would be a good exercise to describe the major trends to initiate some discussion in the industry because I believe that the implications could be profound. The Four Stages of the 3D Printing MarketI see the AM industry as progressing through four stages: from local to global, continental, and finally a segmented, archipelago-style industry whereby there are many islands of expertise, materials, software, and machines. Initially, there were local players catering to very local markets. Peugeot made cars in France. If the company wanted a prototype in Belgium or the Netherlands, they would call Materialise. Then, we saw a globalized industry: Peugeot is French and would sell its cars mostly in France, but also in Algeria, Belgium, and Vietnam. Everyone used Materialise software, but could get a prototype in the Netherlands or California made by a local firm.
Globalized, in this sense, means that the designers of globalization, e.g. the West sells to everyone. In Germany, German cars predominate, but there are also Peugeots and Fords. Ford is strong in the U.S., but everywhere else, as well. This is the globalized stage whereby local strengths parlay into limited but truly global competition. Later we saw true Globalization where ¨they sell to us too¨ which has put western governments into a sudden reverse gear about globalization and its discontents. Or in other terms, it is efficient markets that cause unemployment over there, it is a dumping, unfair competition, a national security worry, if it causes unemployment in Western Europe or the US. The Continental StageLater on, the car industry became segmented and we saw the emergence of a stronger, consolidated continental industry. There is still global competition, but acting from strongly consolidated local markets: e.g., the big three in Detroit or the intensely Japanese, domestic market. This continental stage looks a lot like globalization but smacks of mercantilism and it is the step that 3D printing occupies right now. We can get a prototype made everywhere pretty much, but if we need AM for production, there are precious few partners. No one is surprised if the French government opts for a French machine. By and large, everyone covers the market within their own technology silos. We have conglomerates that sell everywhere and dominate the market. They are strong in their countries, less strong yet still powerful in their regions, and project their sales outward from a strong capital base. Think Stratasys, EOS, 3D Systems, SLM, GE, Materialise. Meanwhile, there are smaller players emerging that flourish in niches. There is also further consolidation afoot, as players seek to become players of note by rolling up fragmented parts of the AM sector, See American Industrial Partners and CORE Industrial Partners attempts to bring order to the fragmented U.S. manufacturing service market. Generally, however, we’re not seeing the full effects of consolidation across the industry yet.
Confusion about ConsolidationThis is because, up and until a few months ago, anyone with half-a-brain and a quarter-of-an-idea could get $5 million to try out starting a 3D printing business. This meant that there was a lot of air and silliness in our industry, as products were created without market fit or competitors emerged that really didn’t compete. From Tulip Mania to now this is what always happens, alas. In our industry, we saw that many startups were just too optimistic. If there are 500 true 3D printing production sites out there, with four designers per site, then what is the market for a given type of software or service? If they’re growing their revenue at 30 per per annum, how will a firm outpace them if it isn’t actually making the market bigger? These businesses are increasingly failing now that capital is tight. Optimism breeds optimists and the optimists are having to think grimly of the future. So, these businesses are not being taken over because they have too little revenue or instal base to be meaningful for companies many times their size. Or they’re being bought for IP. The fossil record of the Cambrian explosion details all the creature designs that didn’t work, plus an increasing prevalence of those that did. An Automotive Industry AllegorySo, the 3D printing market is consolidating but growth has been sorely lacking from underperforming public players, especially of the frothy, SPAC kind. We know that consolidation is happening, but it will take more than a few Google searches to verify this. For a parallel we can look at the automotive industry in the 1930s, where over half of U.S.-based automakers went out of business. This article showcases GM’s response to the recession by offering many more models in many verticals and markets (e.g., Stratasys) and Chrysler´s response, which was to increase efficiency (e.g., what most others are doing). More dramatically still, the U.S. automotive industry had over 2,000 firms in the early period of 1900 to 1920. Yes, some of these were acquired or merged, but the vast majority ceased to exist or pivoted. Was there consolidation over the period? Of course! But, that doesn’t mean that every company had to be subsumed by others that still exist. Then, in the 1940s, “Chrysler, Ford and GM accounted for 90 percent of all U.S. car sales, with the rest divided between Packard, Hudson, Nash-Kelvinator, Studebaker, Checker, Crosley and Willys-Overland/Jeep.¨ The U.S. automotive market since is a very different story, with the smaller firms disappearing. Now, Toyota has the largest market share in the U.S. (around 14%) followed by GM and Ford. The top five have around 50% and this includes the ostensibly Dutch Stellantis and Hyundai/Kia. Whereas Stellantis has been a noted consolidator, the top Japanese and Korean firms are not really known for acquisitions. If we’d be silly enough to look at only how many companies of the initial 2,000 were acquired or only see this through the lease of market share consolidation by a few players at one point, we’d miss the bigger picture of volatility and new market entrants. Also, check out this list of, U.S. carmakers and when they went bust. Do also look at the calculus on average company age, now down from 58 years to 18. S&P companies also spend less than 24 years on the index, down from 33 years in 1964. Creative destruction still propagates and the invisible hand is not clapping for you.
ConclusionAs for our market, my theory here is that we are actually entering an archipelago stage. Here, local competition worldwide partially displaces previous consolidators. Increasingly, people will have local options in many more markets from materials, to software, and machines. National champions will emerge and a few key players will dominate different areas of our industry. This includes a few global OEMs, some local strong OEMs in China and other countries, and others with a mix of international and Chinese firms. There will be more focus on verticals and more industry- and application-specific verticals, startups and services. Far from a big tent industry where everyone knows everyone, 3D printing will have dental startups that only focus on dentists and won’t really known to the rest of the sector. We will see specialization and localization as well as a more granular approach by specialized players in each area. This will, I believe, lead us to an archipelago whereby offerings, competitiveness and markets will be split. Images: erikwestrum, Adrian Scottow, Antony Carr, RichardBH. The post Archipelago: Further Segmentation of the 3D Printing Industry appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/AxWScCO January 27, 2023 at 08:49AM
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£6M UK Grant Boosts 3D Printed Medicine and More https://ift.tt/eNQY5AI Researchers at the University of Nottingham‘s Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM) in the UK received a £6 million ($7.4 million) grant from the British government to develop a toolkit that will allow 3D printed medicines to be manufactured more effectively. The project aims to create “smart products” on demand that are personalized and bespoke, driving innovations closer to commercial production. Examples include prosthetic limbs, bio drugs containing active ingredients like biological molecules, and living plasters or wound patches that can rebuild tissues damaged from chronic disease. Led by CfAM professor and additive manufacturing expert Ricky Wildman, the project will see participation from fellow researchers from the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Engineering and School of Pharmacy, as well as the Universities of Cambridge, Reading, and Strathclyde, and project partners like Boston Micro Fabrication, AstraZeneca, Formlabs, Pfizer and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Together, the teams will work to develop a toolkit platform that acts as an instruction manual allowing the industry to identify, select and process the correct materials to 3D print into new regenerative medicines and pharmaceuticals.  Formulating 3D printable materials ready for advanced function. Image courtesy of CfAM/University of Nottingham.
3D printing for healthcareHoping to give healthcare professionals access to the latest cutting-edge science faster, the researchers aim to improve the pathway from research to development and clinical adoption, which faces major obstacles. Towards this end, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which offers federal grants to UK universities, decided to fund Wildman’s five-year project.
Using computational modeling and machine learning, the team will develop instructions for use by the industry to accelerate the development cycle of new drugs, which could reduce timescales from two years to six months. Moreover, as part of the project, three test pharmaceutical products will be developed and tested, all of which rely on incorporating proteins or enzymes to promote cell growth and have customizable, complex, and multi-material requirements.  Solid dosage tablets for oral delivery of biotherapeutics. Image courtesy of CfAM/University of Nottingham.
Accelerating the health revolutionAs CfAM explains, this initiative aims to deliver the tools that will shorten the development time and production of functional 3D printed products, thereby enabling widespread uptake and competitive advantage within sectors key to the UK. To deliver this, the team will first demonstrate 3D printing capability to deliver advanced functional products to key, high-value sectors of the UK, particularly the pharma and biotechnology sectors, develop libraries of materials that extend the current functional capability of 3D printing bioinks, and develop a toolkit of connected synthesis, formulation, screening and deposition systems that allow for the rapid assessment and deployment of 3D printable functional materials. According to the University of Nottingham, the project targets widespread uptake across hospitals, pharmacies, and the wider UK National Health Service (NHS). The collaborators are already working hard, testing a biological pill that could replace injected vaccines. If successful, the 3D-printed personalized pill could be easily taken by the patient, cutting out issues with logistics, delivery, and administering of the drug. In addition, the group is developing an intestinal patch that could calm inflammation, potentially helping patients with Crohn’s, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes swelling of the tissues in the digestive tract. The patch would be laid over the internal area and release active ingredients to help heal and support cell renewal. NHS Consultant and University of Nottingham School of Medicine Professor Mohammad Ilyas said this is inspiring work that, through building cellular models, will “improve our understanding of how the gut functions.” If successful, it will lead to a paradigm shift in clinical management and launch the use of autologous tissue-engineered therapeutics for bowel disease treatment, added the expert.
 Using computational and algorithmic approaches to support materials identification and product design. Image courtesy of CfAM/CfAM
This is not the first time we heard from Professor Wildman and his 3D printing innovations. In 2021, the expert found a new way to design and manufacture custom medical devices to boost performance and bacterial resistance through a combination of multi-material inkjet 3D printing and genetic algorithms. Before that, he participated in a project to 3D print medicines with personalized doses. With Wildman at the helm of CfAM, 3D printing research could help advance next-generation on-demand healthcare devices that will improve patient care in the UK. This program, in particular, has the ambitious goal of realizing highly functional, smart products with the potential to transform key UK industries like biopharma, cell therapy, regenerative medicine, biocatalysis, and more. The post £6M UK Grant Boosts 3D Printed Medicine and More appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/7HWa9A6 January 27, 2023 at 07:15AM Directed Energy Deposition: The Pathway to Large Format Metal 3D Printing AMS Speaker Spotlight1/27/2023
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Directed Energy Deposition: The Pathway to Large Format Metal 3D Printing – AMS Speaker Spotlight https://ift.tt/WXwelhv While AM has been dubbed as the 4th industrial revolution, it has made minimal in-roads into the arena of large part manufacturing. Among all the metal AM technologies, Directed Energy Deposition (DED)technologies are more easily scalable than others. Therefore, DED is well suited for manufacturing large parts. Surprisingly, the adoption of DED technologies has been much slower than other well-known 3d printing technologies, such as Powder Bed Fusion (PBF), Material Jetting (MJ) or Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). However, this is changing. Aerospace and defense industries are leading the way in exploring and adapting large format metal printing. DED has come a long way. Baker’s 1935 patent on ‘Method of Making Decorative Articles’ is arguably the first known patent using a directed energy technique. While the process was not digitally driven, it, nonetheless, demonstrated the potential of tool-less manufacturing using a layer wise approach. Today’s DED technologies are far more sophisticated and fully driven by digital manufacturing methodologies. However, there remains some significant barriers to its widespread adoption for large part manufacturing. Enhanced build rate, consistent build process, real time process monitoring and control, stress & distortion mitigation strategies are some of the essential requirements to reach the dream of producing large metal AM parts that can journey to outer space, fly in an aircraft around the earth, explore the deep seas or produce energy at a power station with 24/7 reliability. 
Figure 1. Complex geometries printed using DMD technology. (a) A hollow elbow, (b) A hemisphere, (c) a rocket engine nozzle (courtesy NASA MSFC) and (d) Turbine engine part. DM3D Technology LLC, a leading DED technology and service provider, has taken on the mission to make large-scale metal AM parts a reality. DM3D’s proprietary Direct Metal Deposition (DMDâ) is one of the DED technologies that uses high power laser as a heat source and metal powder/wire as feedstock to 3D print metal parts layer-by-layer directly from the CAD data (Fig. 1). We realize that developing large format AM technology is a task that we cannot realize alone. The process starts with identifying candidate parts, analyzing technical and commercial challenges, and laying out potential integrated solutions to these challenges to maximize our chances of being successful. For the past five years, our team has been working tirelessly with our customers and suppliers towards achieving this goal. 
Figure 2. DMD Multi-nozzle system. Left top insert shows the dual nozzle technology for rapid 3D deposition. Like in any product development, a key mantra to success is cheaper, better, and faster. Enhanced build rate is a must-have factor to make the cost of large parts affordable and to reduce lead time. Some DED processes have reached this target by using high energy input and large beam size. However, these advancements have come at a cost, such as a reduction in complex feature capability and process resolution while introducing very large distortions in the part. In order to overcome this challenge, our team at DM3D took a different approach. We designed, fabricated, and commissioned a new generation multi-nozzle DMD system (Figure 2). Some features of this Multi-nozzle DMD system are:
  
The next critical step in maturing a large part printing process is candidate part selection and build process optimization. We worked with NASA on the RS-25 engine nozzle liner (with 97in or base diameter and 111in height) as a candidate part. The build approach started with design of experiments (DOE) based process recipe optimization followed by a thermal, stress and distortion simulation of the build process using ANSYS software (Fig. 3) and subsequent compensation of the distortion to print geometry. This was followed by a successful build process (Fig. 4) and finally, a structured light geometric inspectional (from Hexagon) scan on completion of the build (Fig. 5). Replacing conventional manufacturing with AM for a RS-25 engine liner is estimated to result in 2X to 10X schedule reduction and a significant cost savings (up to 50%). There is significant technological and commercial benefit of printing such large parts using DED technology as indicated by Paul Gradl, a Principal Engineer at NASA MSFC and a world-renowned AM expert, “NASA has established these public-private partnerships with industry and academia to advance new approaches, process build volumes, novel alloys, and component demonstrations using additive manufacturing,” he said. “The goal is to increase the technology readiness level to allow infusion into future NASA missions and commercial space applications.” We hope that this successful demonstration of printing large rocket engine parts will open doors for large-scale metal AM and directly benefit the fast-growing commercial space industry which is in constant need of large structures. Rapid manufacturing speed, along with the ability to incorporate new design changes with minimum effort, will be a perfect tool for current and future design & manufacturing engineers and accelerate innovation to a greater benefit of our society. DM3D will be attending Additive Manufacturing Strategies, taking place in New York City from February 7-9, 2023. DM3D Technology President Bhaskar Dutta will be participating on “Panel 1: The Future of DED and WAAM” on February 7. Register for your ticket to attend here. The post Directed Energy Deposition: The Pathway to Large Format Metal 3D Printing – AMS Speaker Spotlight appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/7HWa9A6 January 27, 2023 at 07:15AM
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Join Caracol at AMS 2023 in NYC to Meet Heron AMTM: the Future of Large Format 3D Printing – AMS Speaker Spotlight https://ift.tt/wZo84Nd Come meet Caracol at Additive Manufacturing Strategies in New York on February 7th to 9th. The company is returning as event sponsors this year to showcase their LFAM platform: Heron AM. Caracol’s pioneering journey into Large Format Additive Manufacturing began 7 years ago, when its our four co-founders began researching Large-Format Additive Manufacturing and its potential. From day one they began looking into how they could overcome the limits of existing AM technologies, to better serve the needs of clients in the most advanced industries.
This journey led Caracol to develop and launch Heron AMTM: the integrated hardware and software platform. This is the company’s turnkey solution for companies to maximize flexibility, efficiency, process control, and performance when they manufacture large, advanced, and complex parts. Heron AM is comprised of several key elements that can guarantee certain quality, accuracy, and performance standards. The platform was developed with an application-first approach: as Caracol is the system’s first end-user, they developed know-how on the type of challenges their clients might face when manufacturing parts and when working with LFAM technologies. After years of research and development, over 30 thousand hours of printing, and hundreds of projects with clients across sectors, the company decided to commercialize its system.
Furthermore, the company continues innovating its solution – at Formnext 2022 they launched two new products: the high flow extruder and the automated print bed. The new extruder was developed to work on large parts very fast, with a higher working temperature – up to 450°C – it was introduced to process an extensive range of materials with high melting points, while maintaining best properties and print quality given the greater thermal control. The automatic print bed was designed and patented to introduce two main features: an improved mechanical grip and automatized production thanks to the rotating structure of the bed. The system can produce components with a wide range of thermoplastics and composites (both from virgin and recycled origins) in the form of pellets and shreds. This makes the system ideal for the production of several medium to large-scale parts, such as: structural elements, tooling such as jigs for positioning, drilling, and cutting, molds, assembly rigs, beams, prototypes, metal replacement, temporary or permanent substitution of parts, and an array of applications and components we continue to discover every day.
Within their HQ near Milan, Italy, the company has developed one of the largest LFAM production hub in the world. Hosting eight Heron AMTM platforms in their varied configurations – including insulated cells for high-performing polymers and a system with a 7th axis structure to extend size up to 15-meter parts. Within the space Caracol has also set up a dedicated post-production area, with a robotic CNC center, and a Quality department with state-of-the-art equipment to inspect and control both the process and all manufactured parts, in accordance with the AS/EN 9100 standard. Overall Caracol keeps working with the aim to lead the manufacturing world toward a new production paradigm that helps companies be more efficient, performing, and sustainable. The company will be present at AMS as event sponsor, and Francesco De Stefano, CEO and co-founder, will be joining the panel “The Growing Role of Large-Format Machines” on Tuesday 7th at 1:55 PM. The post Join Caracol at AMS 2023 in NYC to Meet Heron AMTM: the Future of Large Format 3D Printing – AMS Speaker Spotlight appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/7HWa9A6 January 27, 2023 at 06:21AM
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Dungarees + Squeegees | Cyanotype https://ift.tt/IsKtzRS Shropshire-based printing studio, Dungarees + Squeegees, run by duo Ash and Joey, have released a new collection of photographic cyanotypes. This unique experimentation is a step away from their usual medium of screenprinting.
While experimenting, Ash photographed flowers and printed them on acetate. Compared to the traditional method of placing an object on top of the paper, the acetate exposes detailed tonal ranges. These prints are still all unique, but have finer details such as veins and textures.
Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/gOK2mDi January 27, 2023 at 04:50AM Average Time to Deliver Across Postal Network Steady at 2.5 Days https://ift.tt/6oOem2i WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service reported new delivery performance metrics for the third week of the second quarter for fiscal year 2023 showing delivery performance improvements in First-Class Mail and Periodicals. The average time for the Postal Service to deliver a mailpiece or package across the nation was 2.5 days. Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/7zg1Q6r January 26, 2023 at 12:53PM |
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Cyanotype is a 170-year-old photographic printing process that produces prints in distinctive shades of blue. A light reactive chemical is painted onto paper, dried, then an object is placed on top and exposed to sunlight. The paper is then rinsed with water and the silhouette of the object is washed away, leaving the original paper whereas the areas exposed to light turn to shades of blue.
The collection includes prints ranging from A6 to A3 and can be purchased on their website. Recently, D+S have also been commissioned to develop client’s photographs and illustrations into cyanotypes, such as Mike Blues album cover.
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