The researchers call their new experimental method Rapid Liquid Printing, or RLP. When I first read the name of this new method, I immediately thought of the Gel Dispensed Printing method developed by MASSIVit 3D in 2015, but RLP is different in that it doesn’t use a typical layer-by-layer approach: instead, this method can physically draw in 3D space, within a large tank of gel. Large, customized objects can be printed in just minutes, with liquid materials you might often see used in other industrial processes, such as foam, rubber, or plastic.
According to the team at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, “Compared with other techniques we believe this is the first development to combine industrial materials with extremely fast print speeds in a precisely controlled process to yield large-scale products.”
Co-director of the Self-Assembly Lab Skylar Tibbits, who memorably took the reins from Hod Lipson when he stepped down from the peer-reviewed 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Journal a couple years ago, said that the net result of the new RLP method is a material that’s able to be produced in just minutes, far faster than traditional 3D printing methods work (wasn’t it just yesterday that this was the argument for using 3D printing technology versus conventional methods of manufacturing?).
Tibbits explained, “Our process does not print with layers, does not need support materials, can be printed in seconds to minutes and uses everyday industrial liquid materials.”
The Self-Assembly Lab at MIT is no stranger to 3D printing, from working with rock 3D printing to the notion that a 4D smartphone may one day be able to build itself. The lab works to make its self-assembling future a reality by collaborating with academic, nonprofit, government, and commercial partners, like Steelcase, which received its first patent all the way back in 1914 for a manufacturing process it developed in order to build a strong, inexpensive, durable wastebasket, which was also fireproof. So obviously, the company is not adverse to utilizing breakthrough manufacturing technologies to make furniture.
Rob Poel, director of new business innovation at Steelcase, said, “We’re looking at interesting opportunities for our company. There’s been a rising demand in the workplace for personalization and customization. Companies are looking for ways to attract employees – this is one of them.”
Yuka Hiyoshi, a senior industrial designer at Steelcase, said, “As a designer, what’s most fascinating and unique about Rapid Liquid Printing is the line quality of the print. It’s soft, almost organic. When you’re printing freely within a gel suspension, you can create these dynamic shapes without the traditional 3D printing support material and structure. There is this natural fluidity to the print that would be lost using other techniques.”
“There’s a long way to go yet before it meets testing standards,” Poel concurred. “We also have to look at the viability of the process and the costs associated with it. But it’s exciting and promising.”
Discuss in the Rapid Liquid Printing forum at 3DPB.com.
[Source: Forbes / Images: Steelcase/MIT]