News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Swiss 3D printer manufacturer Sintratec signed L.corporation as a distributor for South Korea. Sintratec’s compact SLS 3D printers are now being sold in the world’s 8th largest market for 3D printing.
hpl structural, a German engineering and construction firm specializing in complex steel structures, has found a way to dramatically improve its development process with the integration of 3D printing. Whereas the company’s designers would have typically inspected a digital CAD model to determine its structural feasibility, it can now 3D print physical models of the structures for a more detailed analysis and more accurate presentation.
ACTLAB, the experimental architecture laboratory at the Politecnico di Milano University in Italy has announced the completion of its 3D printed Trabeculae Pavilion. The ethereal, lightweight shell, which spans 36 square meters, demonstrates how 3D printing and bio-inspired computational design can come together to create truly stunning architecture.
The DFAB construction project underway at ETH Zurich aims to use all the latest digital technologies to produce a real three-story house. After using the robotic additive deposition to produce walls and advance composite materials for internal complex structures, now the researchers at ETH Zurich have fabricated an 80 m2 lightweight concrete “Smart Slab” lab using large format binder jetting technology. This makes the DFAB house the world’s first full-scale architectural project to use 3D sand printing for its formwork.
Despite the fact that construction 3D printing is still just taking off here on Earth, some companies are already looking beyond the Stratosphere towards building 3D printed habitats and liveable structures in space. The ambitious and quite niche branch of AM research, spurred on by space exploration organizations such as NASA and ESA, is being pioneered by a handful of companies who believe their construction AM platforms have the potential to be adapted for the harsh environments of the Moon and Mars.
Accessibility to 3D printing on the ISS has allowed astronauts to print custom plastic tools and parts that are needed to successfully achieve their mission. No need to come back to earth to fetch that tool, you can now print it at zero G with the 3D printer currently running on the ISS. Soon you will be able to bioprint too with new Allevi ZeroG extruder.
Comic-Con International in San Diego never disappoints. Every year, it consistently showcases some of the most interesting movie franchise and comic panels, inspiring special guests and, above all, some really—and I mean really—amazing cosplay.
Israeli 3D printing startup Castor has high ambitions in the 3D printing industry and hopes to help businesses adopt and optimize additive manufacturing with its software platform. The company, which markets the “first intelligent 3D printing software for manufacturing,” was recently selected to be a part of the Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator hosted by Stanley Black & Decker and Techstars.
Metal AM magazine was the first – and only media so far – to report on the upcoming EOS M 300, the successor to EOS’ best selling M 280 and M 290 metal 3D printers. According to Metal AM, the new system was teased during the recent EOS Technology Days at the company’s new headquarters in Krailling, Germany, on July 17-18.
A dedicated fan of classic board games, I am rarely taken with newly released games — with a few exceptions, of course. One of those exceptions is a new strategic board game that draws its inspiration from the seafaring of old and is presented as a beautiful, foldable 3D printed set. The game, called Adella: the Game of Crimps, is arguably as impressive in its design as it is in its gaming concept.