ADAM ZEWE WRITES IN MIT NEWS, October 10, 2024, “New 3D Printing Technique Creates Unique Objects Quickly and With Less Waste.”
Ups and Downs. I’ve been following evolution of 3D printing technology and its ups and downs. For an example of its modeling capabilities, see John Haddock’s fabulous Napier-Railton 1:8 scale model.
Above, the Napier-Railton’s broad-arrow 12-cylinder layout. Below, its lower end with sump removed.
These components originated as 3D-printed pieces.
A 3D Neighborhood. By contrast, I’m puzzled by the “World’s Largest 3D-Printed Neighborhood” in Georgetown, Texas.
Images from Reuters, August 8, 2024.
The layering of concrete-slurry certainly seems efficient, however I’m not sure I’m ready for the “corduroy” texture of resulting surfaces. Surely keeping them clean and dusted would be a real hassle.
New Dual-Nozzle Technology. Adam Zewe describes in MIT News, “Their method, called speed-modulated ironing, utilizes a dual-nozzle 3D printer. The first nozzle deposits a heat-responsive filament and the second nozzle passes over the printed material to activate certain responses, such as changes in opacity or coarseness, using heat.”
Dual-nozzle 3D printing. This and following images from Ozdemir et al.
Zewe describes, “Speed-modulated ironing enables makers to fabricate objects with varied colors and textures, like the owls pictured here, using only one material with high precision. The technique is faster and produces less waste than other methods.”
Image by the researchers.
Researchers at MIT and Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands claim the approach is a “more efficient, less wasteful, and higher-precision technique that leverages heat-responsive materials to print objects that have multiple colors, shades, and textures in one step.”
Speed-Modulated Ironing. Zewe quotes Mustafa Doğa Doğan PhD ’24, co-author of a Speed-Modulated Ironing: High-Resolution Shade and Texture Gradients in Single-Material 3D Printing, Ozdemir et al: “Today, we have desktop printers that use a smart combination of a few inks to generate a range of shades and textures. We want to be able to do the same thing with a 3D printer—use a limited set of materials to create a much more diverse set of characteristics for 3D-printed objects.”
‘By modulating the speed of the second nozzle, which applies heat to a temperature-responsive filament, the researchers can vary the shade of materials to create objects with complex patterns, without the need to use multiple materials.” Image by the researchers; caption from MIT News.
Zewe observes, “One could use speed-modulated ironing to create artistic effects by varying the color on a printed object. The technique could also produce textured handles that would be easier to grasp for individuals with weakness in their hands.”
Above, a speaker enclosure can differentiate its control buttons by choice of texture. Below, a speed-modulated pass of the heat nozzle can create images.
Faster, Finer Fabrication. Zewe recounts, “They tested their approach with three heat-responsive filaments. The first, a foaming polymer with particles that expand as they are heated, yields different shades, translucencies, and textures. They also experimented with a filament filled with wood fibers and one with cork fibers, both of which can be charred to produce increasingly darker shades.”
An example of varying wood textures as a function of second-nozzle passage time.
“The researchers,” Zewe continues, “demonstrated how their method could produce objects like water bottles that are partially translucent. To make the water bottles, they ironed the foaming polymer at low speeds to create opaque regions and higher speeds to create translucent ones. They also utilized the foaming polymer to fabricate a bike handle with varied roughness to improve a rider’s grip.”
Opacity as a result of second-nozzle operation.
Innovations to Come. “In the future,” Zewe concludes, “the researchers want to experiment with other thermally responsive materials, such as plastics. They also hope to explore the use of speed-modulated ironing to modify the mechanical and acoustic properties of certain materials.”
I’ll bet it could mitigate the corduroy effect of 3D-printed walls. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024