Research

Operando X-ray pair distribution function measurement reveals the atomic structure of the melt pool and ordering-mediated solidification in laser additive manufacturing. Image via Northwestern University.
Research
New Operando X-Ray Method Could Give Metal 3D Printing a Real-Time Control Lever

Northwestern University‘s associate professor of mechanical engineering Tao Sun and collaborators have published new research showing that the atomic-level arrangement of liquid metal, not just cooling rate and temperature gradient, governs how grain structures form during laser additive manufacturing.  The…

Series of photographs of the transmitted input beam spot at various time instants, upon switching the pump beam on and then off. Image cropped, via Szukalski et al.
Research
Researchers 3D print photo-responsive components for dynamic light modulation

Researchers in Poland and Italy have developed photo-responsive materials for vat photopolymerization that allow 3D printed components to dynamically alter the intensity and polarization of a laser beam.  The materials incorporate azobenzene-based molecules whose orientation changes when exposed to polarized…

Graphical abstract. Image via IMDEA Materials Institute.
Research
AI System Learns Each 3D Printer’s “Personality” to Cut Manufacturing Defects

Researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, working with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, have developed an algorithm that detects hidden behavioral differences between supposedly identical 3D printers and automatically decides how to correct for them.  The work,…

New technique takes the heat out of 3D printing process. Photo via University of Nottingham.
Research
Researchers Find a Way to Stop 3D Printed Parts From Overheating Mid-Print

A technique that 3D prints an entire object at once, instead of building it up layer by layer, has a heat problem. Researchers at the University of Nottingham, working with the University of California, Berkeley, say they’ve found a fix.…

Dr Josh Bailey and Dr Hugh O'Connor are the scientists behind the research. Photo via Queen's University Belfast.
Research
Queen’s University Belfast Open-Sources a Sustainable, 3D Printed Flow Battery

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have built a 3D printed flow battery cell that costs around £75 to make, against the £2,000–£3,000 a commercial lab-grade equivalent typically runs, and are giving the design away for free to labs worldwide.  Dr…

Visualization of the EBSD scan region on the 2D model. Image via The University of Manchester.
Research
Small temperature shifts, big quality gains: Manchester maps the defect physics of molten metal deposition

A few degrees at the nozzle can decide whether a 3D printed aluminum part comes out sound or riddled with pores. That is the central finding of a new study from The University of Manchester, published in Materials & Design,…

Finite element model of the prosthetic socket, showing mesh discretization and boundary conditions. Image via Borracci et al.
Research
Italian researchers use field-driven lattice design to cut prosthetic socket weight by 25%

Researchers from four Italian universities have developed a digital workflow for producing patient-specific upper-limb prosthetic sockets with spatially graded lattice structures. Combining 3D scanning, finite element analysis, elastic-plastic homogenization and Field-Driven Design, the method adjusts lattice strut diameter according to…

Sensor being held by Jacob Hosen. Photo via Purdue University.
Research
Purdue’s 3D Printed Groundwater Sensor brings low cost scientific instruments to USGS

Purdue University researchers have built a 3D printed, open-source alternative to the specialized groundwater-flow sensors that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) owns in only small numbers, and they can assemble each unit for a few hundred dollars, a fraction of…

Double network granular elastomers (DNGEs). Photo via Titouan Veuillet.
Research
EPFL’s 3D Printed Elastomer Resists Both Fracture and Fatigue

A new study in Science Advances finds that a rubbery material first engineered for 3D printing may resolve a problem that has long dogged materials science: producing printable elastomers that are simultaneously tough and durable.  Researchers at EPFL’s Soft Materials…

Research
From Chip-Making to 3D: Utah’s Single-Exposure Printing Method

Engineers at the University of Utah have shown off a 3D printing approach that sidesteps one of the format’s persistent weaknesses: the leaky seams left behind when an object is built up slice by slice. Rather than stacking layers, the…