3d printing

Researchers open hairy new chapter in 3-D printing

You just can't brush off this technology.

3-D printed rocket engine made by NASA passes test with flying colors

Over the last three years, NASA engineers have been exploring using additive technology, like 3D printing, to manufacture key rocket engine parts. Tests on individual parts had worked well. Now, the space agency fitted all the parts onto a special test bench that behaves like a real rocket engine and fired it up for a test. The engine fired at 90,000 RPMs for 10 seconds to produce 22,000 pounds of thrust, with all performance test parameters showing 'green'.

Amazing Custom Clock built using CNC, laser cutting and 3D printing - all using one hybrid printer

This beauty was designed, crafted and assembled by Matt Olczyk. The custom-made clock looks like a cross between old pendulum antiques and modern, minimalist designs. All the parts were custom made in Olczyk's shop using CNC milling, laser cutting and 3D-printing. The real innovation, however, lied in the fat that all of these operations were performed by one single machine - the ZMorph Hybrid 3D printer.

Check out the world's first 3D electronics printer

I love disruptive technologies, and 3D printing is undoubtedly one of the leading such movements in the 21st century. This kind of tech will democratize manufacturing, moving it away from 3rd world sweatshops to your own garage. And no, you don't have to be a geek to own one. Ten years from now, it should be as easy to use and as widespread in homes as a regular ink printer. But for now, 3D printing is limited, particularly as far as electronics are concerned. Usually, you have to print the plastic parts, then order electronic parts like circuits, chips or motors, before finally assembling it all together yourself. You can't have a global manufacturing revolution if you need to be a lab wiz to print a new TV remote control to replace the one the dog just shred to pieces. But this is all changed. We're just now seeing the first steps that might one day lead people to print their own smartphones.

Three dimensional printing goes metal: University of Twente researchers print copper and gold

The development of a method that would allow for metals to be used in 3D printing would open up a huge range of new possibilities, as the robustness and good thermal and electrical conductivity of metals lend well to a number of fields, such as microelectronics. A team from the University of Twente has developed a way to print 3D structures out of copper and gold, by using a pulsed laser to melt a thin film of metal and stacking the small droplets.

Sea Turtle gets a new 3D-printed titanium jaw after being hit by a boat's propeller

A turtle named Akut-3 was fitted with a new, custom made 3-D printed jaw by doctors at the Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation centre at Pamukkale University in Denizli, Turkey. The reptile was found badly injured at sea and brought to the center for rehabilitation. At first, the doctors healed the turtle's wounds and hand fed her, but they knew they had to turn to something more drastic if the animal was to ever fend for herself in the wild again. They turned to a company in Turkey known for custom made prostheses, gave them a detailed CT scan of the turtle's skull, then received a new beak made out of medical-grade titanium. The prosthesis perfectly fit Akut-3, who is aptly named like a cyborg.

GE engineers 3D print mini jet engine, then power it to 33,000 RPMs

Printing your own mechanical parts or toys is really easy, not to mention fun, using a 3-D printer. But things get a bit trickier when you want to print the kind of parts that go into a car or airplane. Metal is a lot more complex to work with inside a 3D printer than polymers like ABS - the kind of film roles that get melted layer by layer to form a part of your liking once it cools down. Engineers at General Electric just demonstrated, however, that in practice it's not that complicated to print parts out of metal alloys as it sounds. The team used additive technology to build a fully functional jet engine, then test powered it to 33,000 RPMs. The company is already using 3-D printed fuel nozzles in its next-generation aircraft engines, slated to role out in 2016.

Three babies' lives saved by 4-D printed implant from otherwise incurable breathing disease

Three babies aged six to eighteen months suffering from an incurable breathing condition were saved by doctors who printed a 3-D implant. The implant is made out of a special biodegradable plastic that dissolves in three years (just enough incidentally for kids to be out of harms way permanently). It's also designed to grow and expand as the babies age, hence it's called a 4-D printed implant since time is considered an additional dimension, in this case.

'Pop-up' method makes 3-D complex nano structures from 2-D, similar to a children's book

Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently demonstrated a new technique for building complex and very fine 3D micro and nano structures out of 2-D shapes. The whole process is very similar to how a children’s pop-up book works, starting as a flat 2D surface only to expand into a 3D shape when prompted. The authors note that the pop-up method has various advantages over 3D printing, including use of multiple materials during the fabrication process and integration with electronics.