3D Printing News Briefs, June 15, 2024: 3D Printed Research & Lamps & Guns & More

June 15, 2024 by Sarah Saunders 3D Printed Guns 3D Printing 3D Printing Materials 3D Printing Research 3D Software Additive Manufacturing Asia Automation Business Consumer Goods Dental 3D Printing Europe Oceania

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In 3D Printing News Briefs today, we’ll start with some business and research news, then move on to a software tool. We’ve got a story about an accused terrorist and his 3D printed gun. Finally, there’s a crowdfunding campaign for a 3D printed lamp.

Axtra3D Appoints Leaders to Revenue & Growth Team, Enters Japan

Axtra3D, which combines the scale of digital light processing (DLP) with the detail of stereolithography (SLA) in its Hybrid PhotoSynthesis (HPS) technology, has announced the next phase of its Global Revenue and Growth Team with the appointment of three AM industry leaders. First, Greg Elfering, a 20-year veteran of the industry, has been named EVP of Global Revenue, while Andreas Tulaj, with senior sales roles at multiple major companies under his belt, is now the SVP, with a specific focus on Europe. Finally, HPS is well-positioned for the production dental market, and so longtime industry veteran Steffen Reinfurth is the SVP of Global Dental Revenue. Axtra3D has also been ramping up international availability and installation of its advanced AM technology, and recently announced its successful entry into the Japanese market. With the support of its new partner, distributor DMM LLC, 3D Print Department, the company has already installed multiple units of its flagship Lumia X1 in the country.

“As a leading service bureau in Japan, we take pride in being the first to introduce HPS technology to the Asian market,” said Yu Inoue, Deputy Department Manager for DMM, 3D Print Department. ” We have observed strong demand among Japanese manufacturing clients, especially in mold applications that require ceramic-like materials and end-use solutions. To support innovation in Japanese manufacturing, we are committed to promoting the Lumia X1 through distribution and service offerings. Its seamless integration of throughput, fidelity, and print reliability surpasses other SLA and DLP technologies.”

Renewably Sourced Photopolymer Resin for 3D Printing

a, Chemical composition of formulated resin. b, High-resolution printing of 3D printed part containing intricate square arrays and bridges. c, x–y printing accuracy determined by comparing surface area of squares to curing time (pixel size 30 µm). Theoretical surface area of each square and number of squares (sample size): 4 mm2 (n = 3); 1 mm2 (n = 4); 0.25 mm2 (n = 5); 0.0625 mm2 (n = 6). Centre value is average surface area and error bars indicate 1 standard deviation. d, 3D printed complex part. e, Photograph of powdered 3D printed parts. f, Photograph of recovered resin from depolymerized 3D printed parts, achieved in 98% yield. g, SEC of initial resin compared to recovered resin (CHCl3 + 0.5% v/v NEt3, against polystyrene standards, refractive index (RI) detector). Scale bar, 2 mm (b).

While the resolution and manufacturing speed of resins printed using vat photopolymerization have improved over the years, process design and resin technology have mostly stayed consistent. As a team of researchers from the University of Birmingham explained, liquid resin formulations “are composed of reactive monomers and/or oligomers containing (meth)acrylates and epoxides.” Once they’re exposed to a light stimulus in the presence of a photoinitiator, these formulations photopolymerize quickly to create crosslinked polymer networks. But resin components obtained from petroleum feedstocks are limited when it comes to the recyclability of 3D printed parts. These researchers published a paper about their work developing “A renewably sourced, circular photopolymer resin for additive manufacturing,” demonstrating circular DLP printing of lipoate-based resins in a proof-of-concept. These materials have a safety and health advantage in comparison to the typical (meth)acrylate photopolymer resins, and are anticipated to be biodegradable.

“At present, no existing photopolymer resin can be depolymerized and directly re-used in a circular, closed-loop pathway. Here we describe a photopolymer resin platform derived entirely from renewable lipoates that can be 3D-printed into high-resolution parts, efficiently deconstructed and subsequently reprinted in a circular manner. Previous inefficiencies with methods using internal dynamic covalent bonds^{10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17} to recycle and reprint 3D-printed photopolymers are resolved by exchanging conventional (meth)acrylates for dynamic cyclic disulfide species in lipoates. The lipoate resin platform is highly modular, whereby the composition and network architecture can be tuned to access printed materials with varied thermal and mechanical properties that are comparable to several commercial acrylic resins,” they wrote in their abstract.

Carbon Launches AO Stack for M2 and M3 Printers

3D printing technology company Carbon has introduced the latest addition to its Automatic Operation suite of solutions. The AO Stack software tool was designed specifically for the Carbon M2 and M3 printers, enhancing their capabilities by producing up to three times more dental models in a single unattended print cycle. This makes it possible for dental labs to print multiple builds worth of DPR10 models, unsupervised, in one print run. Additionally, AO Stack was designed to seamlessly incorporate into the daily operations of labs, with support and resources from Carbon Academy. This tool is now accessible to Carbon M2 and M3 customers using DPR10 as part of their subscription, and on a software release version 1.41 or above. Reach out to support@carbon3d.com for access.

“The introduction of AO Stack is a milestone in our ongoing quest to innovate and provide transformative solutions to our customers. By allowing up to three builds worth of models on a single unattended print, AO Stack offers the opportunity for an increase in overnight production capabilities without additional hardware or oversight,” said Brice Harkey, Senior Product Manager of Oral Health at Carbon.

Man Accused of Terror Plot Claims 3D Printed Gun Was a Toy

The FGC-9 disassembled. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

27-year-old Artem Vasilyev, who lives in the western suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, was accused of plotting a terrorist act after police found a 3D printed gun and gun parts in his house in 2021. However, he told police that he didn’t intend to make functional 3D printed firearms, and thought they were just toys. Vasilyev, a former Department of Defence electrical engineer, pleaded not guilty to one count of committing other acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act, included allegedly researching methods to blow up the Cherry Gardens electrical substation, visiting white supremacist chat rooms, and sharing gun-building and bomb-making instructions online.

During the 2021 search of his home, police found an improvised AR-15 semi-automatic firearm that was 3D printed, as well as a box containing 3D printed parts used to build an FGC-9 firearm. Vasilyev was arrested for manufacturing firearms and other firearms offenses, and later pled guilty to 22 offenses. He recently stood trial in the Supreme Court of South Australia, and defense attorney Scott Henchcliffe told the court that while Vasilyev didn’t deny being interested in firearms, it was “inherently absurd” for Prosecutor Justin Hannebery to suggest that he wanted to advance white nationalism by blowing up a substation. Last week, Vasilyev was found not guilty of planning a terror attack on the substation. He will be sentenced for the firearms charges he pled guilty to at a later date.

Modular 3D Printed Lamp Available on Kickstarter

Aerospace engineer Nidish Narayanan, founder of startup Around Earth, created an innovative lighting solution that’s currently available on Kickstarter. The lightweight, modern-looking SIMPL (Smart Innovative Modular Pyramid Lamp) is made of three sections, each of which fits on top of the previous one to give it a pyramid structure, but also collapses down into the bottom section to make it easy to transport. Narayanan said he used a Creality Ender 3 to print a variety of lamp prototypes before landing on the final design, produced in ABS. You can power the lamp with a USB, and the SIMPL also comes with an energy-efficient LED light with eight different colors. The lighting is music-responsive, so you can actually set your lamp to change colors in response to the music. Pretty groovy!

“Mood enhancement with multi color light , create a relaxing, energizing or festive atmosphere. Personalization, personalize your environment to reflect individual style and taste. Foster creativity and inspiration with different colors. Wellness, warm hues like orange and yellow promote relaxation, while blue and green can evoke feelings of tranquility and concentration.”

The Kickstarter campaign has a goal of raising $10,000, and with a month to go, there are still plenty of rewards available, such as the Kickstarter special, which offers 20% off on MSRP and includes the SIMPL and a power adapter.