3D Printing News & Discussions

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3D printing technology achieves precision light control for structural coloration
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-3d-techno ... ision.html
by National Research Council of Science & Technology

The world's first 3D printing technology that can be used in transparent displays and AR devices has been developed, which implements the physical phenomenon of chameleon's changing skin color or peacock's beautiful feather color.

Dr. Jaeyeon Pyo's team at KERI has succeeded in realizing a three-dimensional diffraction grating that can precisely control the path of light based on "nanoscale 3D printing technology." This is a novel technology that can utilize the principle of structural color observed in nature for advanced display technology. The research was published as a cover article in ACS Nano.

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NASA is Working on Technology to 3D Print Circuits in Space



POSTED ON JULY 30, 2023
BY LAURENCE TOGNETTI

A collaboration of engineers from NASA and academia recently tested hybrid printed electronic circuits near the edge of space, also known as the Kármán line. The space-readiness test was demonstrated on the Suborbital Technology Experiment Carrier-9, or (SubTEC-9), sounding rocket mission, which was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on April 25 and reached an altitude of approximately 174 kilometers (108 miles), which lasted only a few minutes before the rocket descended to the ground via parachute.

The test consisted of humidity and electronic sensors that were printed on two attached panels along with the payload door, all of which transmitted data to the ground during the brief flight. The mission was deemed a success and holds the potential to help scientists and engineers improve design efficiency for smaller spacecraft.

“The uniqueness of this technology is being able to print a sensor actually where you need it,” said Dr. Margaret Samuels, who is an electronics engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and co-led the experiment with Goddard aerospace engineer, Beth Paquette. “The big benefit is that it’s a space saver. We can print on 3-dimensional surfaces with traces of about 30 microns – half the width of a human hair – or smaller between components. It could provide other benefits for antennas and radio frequency applications.”

The humidity-sensing printing ink was produced at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center while the circuits were created at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS), who each coordinated their efforts with Dr. Samuels and Paquette, demonstrating the collaborative effort undertaken for the project.

More:
https://www.universetoday.com/162601/na ... -in-space/

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Tesla Breakthrough 3D Printing With Sand For Single Piece Casting of Complex Underbody
September 15, 2023 by Brian Wang

Reuters reports that Tesla has combined a series of innovations to make a technological breakthrough for single casting of the complex underbody of the car. Tesla already can gigacast the front and the rear of its cars. This would mean a further reduction in parts and complexity. This will enable faster and cheaper car production and will reduce the factory space needed for car manufacturing.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/09/t ... rbody.html

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Researchers 3D print moon rover wheel prototype with NASA
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-3d-moon-r ... otype.html
by Greg Cunningham, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with NASA, are taking additive manufacturing to the final frontier by 3D printing the same kind of wheel as the design used by NASA for its robotic lunar rover, demonstrating the technology for specialized parts needed for space exploration.

The additively manufactured wheel was modeled on the existing, light-weight wheels of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, a mobile robot NASA plans to send in 2024 to map ice and other potential resources at the south pole of the moon. The mission is intended to help determine the origin and distribution of the moon's water and whether enough could be harvested from the moon's surface to support people living there.

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Recent University of Houston Graduate Develops 3D Printable Prostheses to Restore Amputees’ Finger Mobility
October 13, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) A groundbreaking, easy-to-use 3D printable finger prosthesis created by a recent University of Houston graduate could offer amputees a low-cost solution to restore finger functionality. David Edquilang first designed Lunet, which doesn’t need metal fasteners, adhesives or special tools to assemble, as an undergraduate student at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. While standard prostheses can cost thousands of dollars, Edquilang aims to make his design open access on the internet, instead of selling it.

“Not every good idea needs to be turned into a business. Sometimes, the best ideas just need to be put out there ,” said Edquilang, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design last year. “Medical insurance will often not cover the cost of a finger prosthesis, since it is not considered vital enough compared to an arm or leg. Making Lunet available online for free will allow it to help the greatest number of people."

Edquilang’s mentor at UH was Associate Professor Jeff Feng, co-director of UH’s Industrial Design program. Through a partnership with Harris Health System, Feng learned of a patient who had her fingers amputated due to frostbite. Inspired by working on an upper limb prosthesis Edquilang previously developed with student Niell Gorman, working closely with Professor Feng, Edquilang created prosthetic fingers that returned mobility to the patient, allowing her to pick up objects again.

“It feels great knowing you have the capability to positively impact people’s lives and give them help they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get,” said Edquilang.

Months later, Edquilang was laser focused to make an even better product. Over the course of two weeks, under Feng’s advisory, he designed and tested 60 prototypes before reaching a final design that was more durable, easier to configure and assemble, and had improved functionality.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004707

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Scientists 3D print self-heating microfluidic devices
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-sci ... vices.html
by Adam Zewe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT researchers have used 3D printing to produce self-heating microfluidic devices, demonstrating a technique which could someday be used to rapidly create cheap, yet accurate, tools to detect a host of diseases.

Microfluidics, miniaturized machines that manipulate fluids and facilitate chemical reactions, can be used to detect disease in tiny samples of blood or fluids. At-home test kits for COVID-19, for example, incorporate a simple type of microfluidic.

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Optimization of hard–soft material interfaces: A 3D printed imitation of bone–tendon connections
https://phys.org/news/2023-12-optimizat ... es-3d.html
by Delft University of Technology

Most people can relate to having a laptop charger break right where the flexible cable meets the solid adapter. This is just one example of how difficult it is to effectively interface hard and soft materials. Using a unique 3D printing process, TU Delft researchers produced hybrid multi-material interfaces that reached a remarkable closeness to nature's design of bone–tendon connections. Their research findings, recently published in Nature Communications, have numerous potential applications.

Despite the great difference in hardness between bones and tendons, their intersections in the human body never fail. It is this bone-tendon connection that inspired a team of researchers from the faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Material Engineering (3mE) to explore ways to optimize the hard and soft interfaces of man-made materials.
Design inspiration

Whenever there is a mismatch between two connected materials, it results in a stress concentration, explains Amir Zadpoor, Professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Biomechanics. That means the mechanical stress goes to the connection point and usually results in failure of the softer material. One of the things seen in nature is a gradual change in properties at an interface.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison Researchers First to 3D-print Functional Human Brain Tissue
by February 1, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) MADISON — A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists has developed the first 3D-printed brain tissue that can grow and function like typical brain tissue.

It’s an achievement with important implications for scientists studying the brain and working on treatments for a broad range of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

“This could be a hugely powerful model to help us understand how brain cells and parts of the brain communicate in humans,” says Su-Chun Zhang, professor of neuroscience and neurology at UW–Madison’s Waisman Center. “It could change the way we look at stem cell biology, neuroscience, and the pathogenesis of many neurological and psychiatric disorders.”

Printing methods have limited the success of previous attempts to print brain tissue, according to Zhang and Yuanwei Yan, a scientist in Zhang’s lab. The group behind the new 3D-printing process described their method today in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Instead of using the traditional 3D-printing approach, stacking layers vertically, the researchers went horizontally. They situated brain cells, neurons grown from induced pluripotent stem cells, in a softer “bio-ink” gel than previous attempts had employed.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1033175

For a presentation of study results as published in Cell Stem Cell: https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/ful ... l%3Dtrue