In preparations to a manned Mars flyby Nasa has chosen the next batch of brave men and women to do a go to and return to Mars.
On board of the spacecraft will be a 3D printer, not just any 3D printer but a printer that is able to print not only plastic, but metal also...On the long trip to and back, parts will break and need to be replace Small thrusters Valves even actuators...On the 2nd trip in preperation to a permanent settlement Large multi material 3D printers will be dropped on to the selected zone to be habitated...
Printers that will make blocks out of the martian sand....
Abraham Ben Judea
Suppliers 3D Metal Printers
Several
companies have been making 3D printers for metals for some years now,
from the pioneering 3D Systems in South Carolina, to leading US firm Stratasys
in Minneapolis. They are reaching broad client bases — think aerospace to
academe. And two European companies — EOS of Germany and Arcam of Sweden — are at the forefront of
building machines that print metal end-use products, and not just prototypes,
which used to be the majority of 3D-printed results.
Arcam
started with the Electron Beam Melting, or EBM. During the EBM process, the
electron beam melts metal powder in a layer-by-layer process to build the
physical part. The Arcam EBM machines use a powder bed configuration and are
capable of producing multiple parts in the same build. Arcam has two main
metal-sintering machine systems (the A1 for smaller applications, and the A2
for larger ones, such as airplane parts) that make use of fusing metal powders
together with an electron-beam melter.
EOS rolled
out their flagship EOSINT M 280 system that came out a couple years ago to
replace its 270 model, which was already a market leader in metal additive
manufacturing. Both EOS and Stratasys, which uses primarily employ
plastic-deposition technology, use their own machines to print parts that are,
in turn, used to build more printers.
According to
several reports, it is clear that European design and manufacturing firms are
more advanced at both creating and utilizing additive technologies than their
US counterparts (especially in the medical and dental arenas). And firms such
as Boeing, Airbus, and even NASA are already using systems from the likes of
EOS and Arcam.
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| Large scale 3D printer making stronger than concrete objects out of sand |
Wood, Salt, and Wonder: The Renewable Future of 3D Printing
Weapons. Toys. Entire skulls. There’s no limit to the objects we can 3D print these days, but the materials themselves haven’t evolved as quickly—we’re still stuck in a world of plastic, steel, and ceramic. That’s all about to change, thanks to the work of a small Oakland fabrication studio called Emerging Objects.
Emerging Objects is actually the project of two architects, Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, who teach a 3D printing studio at Berkeley. But unlike most 3D printing research these days, they’re not interested in the machines—instead, they focus on what goes into them. “Many people are focused on machines that print plastic, ” Rael told me over the phone yesterday. “We’re looking at itom the other direction, at the materials themselves.”
That “other direction” is organic and renewable: salt harvested from San Francisco Bay, wood pulp, and clay. Using a standard powder-based 3D printer, they and their students have figured out how to print bricks, components, and furniture using recyclable materials. What does 3D-printed wood look like? Weirdly realistic: it has a faux grain, simply because of the layered printing process. The salt, meanwhile, looks like “solid milk,” to borrow Rael’s words. Shockingly, it’s all super strong, thanks to reinforcement techniques developed in-house—their printed cement is actually stronger than standard stuff. But most importantly? It’s 90% less expensive that current 3D printing technology.
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| Here we see a bicicle that was printed using plastic powder... |
Suppliers 3D Metal Printers
Several companies have been making 3D printers for metals for some years now, from the pioneering 3D Systems in South Carolina, to leading US firm Stratasys in Minneapolis. They are reaching broad client bases — think aerospace to academe. And two European companies — EOS of Germany and Arcam of Sweden — are at the forefront of building machines that print metal end-use products, and not just prototypes, which used to be the majority of 3D-printed results.Arcam started with the Electron Beam Melting, or EBM. During the EBM process, the electron beam melts metal powder in a layer-by-layer process to build the physical part. The Arcam EBM machines use a powder bed configuration and are capable of producing multiple parts in the same build. Arcam has two main metal-sintering machine systems (the A1 for smaller applications, and the A2 for larger ones, such as airplane parts) that make use of fusing metal powders together with an electron-beam melter.
EOS rolled out their flagship EOSINT M 280 system that came out a couple years ago to replace its 270 model, which was already a market leader in metal additive manufacturing. Both EOS and Stratasys, which uses primarily employ plastic-deposition technology, use their own machines to print parts that are, in turn, used to build more printers.
According to several reports, it is clear that European design and manufacturing firms are more advanced at both creating and utilizing additive technologies than their US counterparts (especially in the medical and dental arenas). And firms such as Boeing, Airbus, and even NASA are already using systems from the likes of EOS and Arcam.
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| Picture of the first metalic printed Jaw used in a jaw replacement for an 84 yr old patient |
Metal Materials in 3 D Printing
As written in the introduction, the range of metals suitable for 3D Printing keep growing every month.
MaragingSteel for example is used for series tooling. The EOS MaragingSteel MS1 for example is a martensite-hardenable steel. Its chemical composition corresponds to US classification 18% Ni Maraging 300, European 1.2709 and German X3NiCoMoTi 18-9-5. This kind of steel is characterized by having excellent strength combined with high toughness. The parts are easily machinable after the building process and can be easily post-hardened to more then 50 HRC. They also have excellent polishability.
Those kinds of steel are used for products in series injection moulding and other tooling applications, e.g. aluminium die casting
Titanium is increasingly used. This well-known light alloy is characterized by having excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance combined with low specific weight and biocompatibility. This makes it very suitable for Biomedical implants
Airbus' entrance into the agreement is for testing the viability of components made with the process. The project, called Aeroswift, actually began earlier this year when Aerosud and the South African CSIR's National Laser Centre agreed to work together to slash the production costs of aerospace components using laser additive manufacturing (LAM), another name for selective laser sintering (SLS). It focuses on using titanium powders for the production of large, complex components.
MaragingSteel for example is used for series tooling. The EOS MaragingSteel MS1 for example is a martensite-hardenable steel. Its chemical composition corresponds to US classification 18% Ni Maraging 300, European 1.2709 and German X3NiCoMoTi 18-9-5. This kind of steel is characterized by having excellent strength combined with high toughness. The parts are easily machinable after the building process and can be easily post-hardened to more then 50 HRC. They also have excellent polishability.
Those kinds of steel are used for products in series injection moulding and other tooling applications, e.g. aluminium die casting
Titanium is increasingly used. This well-known light alloy is characterized by having excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance combined with low specific weight and biocompatibility. This makes it very suitable for Biomedical implants
A manufacturing research pact among Airbus,
aerostructure manufacturer Aerosud, and the South African Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR), reportedly aims to develop the biggest, fastest 3D printer
possible for making titanium aircraft and satellite components.
Airbus' entrance into the agreement is for testing the viability of components made with the process. The project, called Aeroswift, actually began earlier this year when Aerosud and the South African CSIR's National Laser Centre agreed to work together to slash the production costs of aerospace components using laser additive manufacturing (LAM), another name for selective laser sintering (SLS). It focuses on using titanium powders for the production of large, complex components.
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| Leaving supplies for the permanent setttlers 2 large multi element 3D printers will be left behind |
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| These will be the first austronauts that will stay for years waiting for a return vehicle |
