Topic > Printing whole parts could accelerate the technology of the future.

Through the use of laser-generated hologram-like 3D images projected into photosensitive resin, experts at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, with their academic collaborators{ , they found that they can build complex 3D parts in a fraction of the time it takes compared to traditional layer-by-layer printing. With this process, experts have uniquely released beams, planes, struts with arbitrary angles, lattices, complicated and curved objects in seconds. While additive manufacturing, commonly called 3D printing, allows engineers and scientists to build parts in configurations and styles never before possible, the effect of the technology offerings is tied to layer-based printing strategies, which can take up to hours or days build three-dimensional parts based on their complexity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, through the use of laser-generated hologram-like 3D images fixed in photosensitive resin, experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, along with collaborators at UC Berkeley, the University of Rochester and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found they could build complicated 3D parts in a fraction of the time of traditional layer-by-layer printing. The new strategy is called “volumetric” 3D printing and is explained in the journal Technology Advances, published online on December 8. “The fact that it is possible to make fully 3D parts in a single step actually overcomes a significant problem in additive manufacturing,” said LLNL researcher Maxim Shusteff, lead author of the paper. “We are attempting to 3D print a module all simultaneously. The real goal of this article was to ask, "Can we create arbitrary 3D styles all at once, putting parts together consistently layer by layer?" “The real way it works, Shusteff explained, is by superimposing three laser beams that define the geometry of an object from three different directions, creating a 3D image suspended in the resin vat. The light from the laser beam, which reaches a higher intensity where In fact the rays intersect, it must be kept on for about 10 seconds, enough time to polymerize the correct part. The excess resin is certainly drained from the tank and, as if by magic, the researchers are still left with a fully formed 3D part. The approach, the scientists concluded, results in parts being built often faster than other polymer-based methods, and in most, if not all, cases, commercial AM strategies are used today. to flexibility, speed and geometric versatility, researchers expect the facility to open up a significant new research avenue in rapid 3D printing “It's a demonstration of what another generation of additive manufacturing could be,” he said LLNL engineer Chris Spadaccini, who leads the Livermore Lab's 3D printing work. “Many 3D printing and additive manufacturing technologies consist of one-dimensional or two-dimensional device procedure. This moves manufacturing completely into a 3D procedure, which has never been done before. The potential effect on productivity could be huge and, if possible, be achieved by you well, you can still have a lot of complexity. “With this technique, Shusteff and his team printed beams, planes, struts at arbitrary angles, lattices, complex and uniquely curved objects. While typical 3D printing has problems with extending structures that could sag without support, Shusteff said, the press.