We’ve got a pretty brief 3D Printing News Briefs for you today, starting with a UK Innovation Grant being awarded to Authentise and its project team. Moving on, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates is regulating the use of 3D printing in construction in Dubai. Finally, the 3D printed Czinger hypercar recently set a new production car lap record. Read on for all the details!
UK Innovation Grant Award to Authentise Team
Authentise, which delivers data-driven workflow tools for AM, is leading a team made up of TWI Ltd., Lloyd’s Register EMEA, and Lancaster University‘s Joining 4.0 Innovation Centre (J4IC) in the “Digital Supply Chain Adoption Curve (DSCAC)” project. The team successfully completed the application process to receive UK Innovation funding, and was awarded a grant for the “Manufacturing made smarter: digital supply chain, feasibility studies” competition. The project started a few months ago and should be finished in October, with the end goal being to provide a product roadmap that, according to a press release, “helps deliver the vision of a fully integrated, digital supply chain. While the vision is not new, it has been stifled by a lack of adoption. That’s despite the fact that such an integration could deliver significant value in terms of efficiency, agility and security.”
With this feasibility study, the team members aim to learn—review existing solutions and question supply chain stakeholders—design—identify potential product areas and compile definitions of them—and test—granular testing in the TWI test bed and high-level testing with industry interviews—an integrated digital supply chain. Instead of just putting out a single report, software vendor Authentise, certification agency Lloyd’s Register, and research organizations JI4C and TWI will actually develop a full set of product definitions that can be used by others to determine and de-risk possible market opportunities.
Decree Issued Regulating Use of 3D Printed Construction in Dubai
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
It’s been a few years now since the 3D printed office building that served as the kick-off of the official Dubai 3D Printing Strategy in the UAE, with a goal that 25% of the buildings in Dubai would fabricated using 3D printing by 2030. In order to continue to advance the economy, increase its global competitiveness, and shore up its position as a leader in the region, as well as the AM industry, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, has issued Decree No. (24) of 2021—effective immediately—which regulates the use of 3D printing in construction in Dubai in order to gradually increase the percentage of 3D printed buildings there to meet the original 2030 goal.
According to the decree, the Dubai Municipality must establish and implement an integrated system for planning, designing, and creating implementing construction works using 3D printing with the proper approved engineering standards and specifications. It must also qualify, register, and classify contractors and engineers working with 3D printing and lay out the standards and requirements for doing so, as well as determine tests and technical experiments for raw materials and industrial additives and structural building elements. A database for 3D printed construction carried out in Dubai will be established, and the municipality has to coordinate with relevant government and non-government agencies to offer benefits, facilities, incentives, and support to persuade contractors, engineers, investors, real estate developers and owners to use 3D printing. Everyone working on 3D printed construction must obtain a permit from the municipality, and no party in the emirate, including the Dubai International Financial Center and authorities supervising free and special development zones, can grant a commercial license for 3D construction printing.
3D Printed Czinger 21C Hypercar Sets New Record
In February of 2020, Czinger and its parent company Divergent 3D introduced the 21C hypercar, with two huge butterfly doors, two center-mounted seats, and a 3D printed chassis, but the world began shutting down just ahead of its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So the world wasn’t really able to see the full glory of the hybrid 21C hypercar, which integrates automated design and optimization software, patented AM-driven processes, highly accurate automated assembly, and novel performance materials, was made with a Human-AI production system, and tops out at an insane 270 mph. That speed helped the Czinger 21C set a new production car lap record at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway in California, as racing driver Joel Miller took it around the track in 1:25.44—beating the previous record by the McLaren Senna by more than two seconds.
“It goes without saying that we are delighted with the performance of the car. To be able to achieve this lap time with a car that is going into homologated production is the result of some incredibly hard work from the Czinger team and in particular our ability to exploit the cutting-edge technology that we have access to through our close association with Divergent,” said Ewan Baldry, Chief Engineer at Czinger. “The most exciting part is that we know we have more performance to come!”
A total of 80 Czinger 21C hybrid cars will be produced. To see its recent record-breaking run at Laguna Seca, check out the video below: