Science & Technology
3D Printed Graphene Aerogel May Lead to Powerful Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors are energy storage devices that charge very rapidly and can retain their storage capacity through tens of thousands of charge cycles. Their applications include regenerative braking systems in electric vehicles. They hold less energy in the same amount...
How Accurate is 3D Printing for Reconstructing Forensic Evidence?
More than one crime, including multiple murders, has been solved with help from 3D printing, as the technology can help recreate forensic evidence. But in a new study entitled “A Preliminary Investigation into the Accuracy of 3D Modeling and 3D Printing in...
Researchers Investigate Parameters of Non-Vacuum Electron Beam Welding for 3D Printing Metal Parts
Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, also known as EBF3, is a wire feed metal 3D printing technique developed by NASA for aeronautics. It has a higher deposition rate than other rapid manufacturing methods, is well-suited for manufacturing reactive alloys, like...
Technical Possibilities for Making 3D Printed Engineering Components Based on Reused Polypropylene
From bacteria and metamaterials to shape-shifting and support-free, the innovative researchers at TU Delft have worked with a wide variety of 3D printing materials over the years. Now, their focus is shifting to polypropylene, a thermoplastic polymer used in a variety...
Research Shows that Silicone Resin Prepolymers Can Be Used for Ultraviolet-Assisted 3D Printing
There are many advantages to ultraviolet (UV)-curable systems, like energy saving, rapid curing, environmentally friendly, and high cost performance. These systems are used often with UV-assisted 3D printing, which deposits layers of photocurable liquid polymer...
Researchers Make Strong, 3D Printed Expandable Origami Structures for Engineering Applications
A collaborative team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Beijing Institute of Technology, and Peking University are using 3D printing to directly build reconfigurable origami assemblages that can expand and fold. But even better, the 3D...
What microCT Scanning Can Do for Additive Manufacturing
X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) has become widely used as a way to analyze and test additively manufactured parts, particularly for dimensional measurement and porosity analysis. In a paper entitled “X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography in Additive...
Do Higher Print Temperatures Lead to Better FDM PLA 3D Printed Parts?
Many factors impact the quality of 3D printed parts, and as the technology is used more and more for production of final parts rather than just prototyping, it is necessary to investigate those factors more thoroughly so that these final parts can be produced with...
Comparing FDM 3D Printed Parts with Carbon Nanotubes, Continuous Carbon Fiber and Short Carbon Fiber
Fused deposition modeling, or FDM, 3D printing has several advantages – thermoplastics can be used, which are easy to handle and are strong and durable enough to be used for producing both prototypes and practical parts. Additionally, FDM 3D printers use a...
Investigating Effects of Process Parameters on Surface Roughness of 3D Printed Down-Facing Surfaces
From titanium bone regeneration scaffolds and hydraulic components to nuclear components and flow reactors, selective laser melting (SLM), which is also known as DMLS and Powder Bed Fusion, is an especially helpful method of metal 3D printing. But there are still some...
Controlling Thermal Distribution in 3D Printing with an Induction Coil
Many things can cause defects in 3D printed parts, including the buildup of residual stress during the printing process. This can be caused by uneven thermal distribution. In a thesis entitled “Control of Thermal Distribution in Additive Manufacturing,” a...
NIST Achieving Better Laser Powder Bed Fusion 3D Printing Melt Pool Control By Implementing Laser Control
Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) 3D printing uses a focused, high power laser to selectively melt geometric patterns into metal powder and build an almost fully dense, freeform object. The process, and quality of the resulting part, are influenced by many process...
Finite Element Modeling Used to Study How Defects Can Effect Porosity in 3D Printed Lattice Structures
For applications that require lightweight structures able to maintain stiffness and strength, 3D printed lattice structure are often used. The complex forms are simple to 3D print, and their mechanical properties – mostly influenced by relative density –...
Researchers Use 3D Printing-Guided Method to Create Thermoresponsive Nanohybrid Scaffolds
3D printed medical implants are typically stiffer and stronger than the surrounding tissue, and while they don’t always adapt well to biological and physical stimuli, that stiffness is important. The biological processes of our bodies are naturally dynamic, and...
Subjecting 3D Printed Medical Ti6Al4V Implants to Laser Peening Could Increase Wear Resistance
When it comes to manufacturing biomedical implants, whether they’re 3D printed or not, titanium alloys are often used, and one of the most common is medical Ti6Al4V, thanks to its biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and excellent corrosion resistance....
3D Printing Organic Resin Objects with Inorganic Nanoparticles for Anti-Counterfeiting Measures
In order to keep our 3D printed parts safe from being illegally replicated, we often turn to anti-counterfeiting measures, such as embedded identification tags and QR codes, bar codes, and even quantum dots, which are tiny nanocrystals produced from semiconductor...
Researchers Demonstrate Wideband Metamaterial Absorber Made of 3D Printed Conductive Plastic
There’s been a lot of research into 3D printing metamaterials over the years – due to their unique properties, they’ve been used to make everything from headphones and heart valve models to door locks and acoustic holograms, and maybe someday even...
Researchers Inspired by Nature to Develop Recyclable Liquid Crystal Polymers for FDM 3D Printing
While it’s possibly to quickly manufacture complex parts at a low cost using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, the readily available polymers are fairly weak, and the completed 3D prints have poor adhesion. According to an ETH Zürich research group...
Assessing Impact Resistance of 3D Printed Polyjet Objects
An object’s design has a large influence on how damage-resistant it is. In a thesis entitled “Peridynamic Modeling of Dynamic Fracture in Bio-Inspired Structures for High Velocity Impacts,” a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Master’s student...
First Mechanical Properties Tests of 3D Printed Carbon CLIP Lattice Parts
California 3D printing company Carbon, founded in 2013, suddenly hit the scene in 2015 with its innovative Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology, which uses the power of light and oxygen to cure a photosensitive resin. Rather than building an object...
Comparing 3D Printed Parts Made with Virgin and Recycled PLA
While 3D printing continues to grow in leaps and bounds, it still creates a lot of waste, due to removed support structures, disposable prototypes, failed prints, and multiple iterations. Luckily, PLA is biodegradable, and the waste can be easily managed in multiple...
UK Researchers Develop Responsive Cellulose-Based Ink for 4D Printing
We’ve seen the results of 3D printing research about responsive materials, but what about with 4D printing, where 3D printed objects can move and change shape of their own volition? A collaborative team of researchers from the University of Bristol and the...
LLNL Researchers Use Laser Beam Shaping to Enhance Properties During Metal 3D Printing
From bioprinting blood vessels and using 3D printing to control reactive materials to 3D printing nanoporous gold and researching metal 3D printing flaws, the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are well known for their impressive work with 3D...
3D Bioprinting: Comparing Lattice Scaffolds with Traditional Rectangular Sheets
Bioprinting is not a simple endeavor – if it were, we would likely be transplanting 3D printed organs by now. It’s a delicate process that requires a number of factors to be in place, including bioinks that are both printable and biocompatible, and proper...
Researchers Use Single Mode 1 kW Fiber Laser to 3D Print Pure Copper Powder
As of right now, selective laser melting (SLM. DMLS, Powder Bed Fusion) is suitable mainly for 3D printing copper alloys. But it would be better to print pure copper (Cu), as it is more thermally and electrically conductive, and while the metal can be used in...
