News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
During the “Dream Road” Winsun global conference organized by Yingchuang (Winsun) on construction 3D printing technology and procurement – held in the Shanghai Qingpu Yingchuang recycling industrial park – the company presented its latest progress and upcoming projects, including colored architectures and graphene structures.
After finalizing the 3D printed reefs in the labs of the Civil Engineering School of the University of Cantabria, 3DPARE is deploying them off the Atlantic coasts of England, France and Spain. Portugal is next in line.
A new partnership forged between GE Renewable Energy, COBOD International and building materials company LafargeHolcim will seek to develop optimized 3D printed concrete bases for wind turbines to make them taller and more cost effective. The turbines, which are expected to reach record heights of 200 meters, will be co-developed through a multi-year collaboration that seeks, overall, to increase renewable energy production while lowering the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE).
Remember the 3D printed Lamborghini story? So much has happened since, including Lamborghini swapping it for a real one and… a pandemic. However, Sterling Backus never stopped working on the project (actually can you think of anything better to do during a lockdown?) and now he’s taking the beast – whose official name is the 3D Printed Interceptor – out for a spin.
In the past, we have often seen ambitious conceptual ideas for 3D printed buildings – even skyscrapers – draw much hype but never see the light. This is no longer the case. The recent concept of a floating 3D printed concrete house has already begun construction, now a new concept for 3D printed observation tower – named Supernatural Concre(a)tion may follow suit, as the project from Dubai-based studio Nyxo is actually a blueprint that covers every detail.
Superstrata, a Silicon Valley-based bicycle brand linked with composite AM service provider Arevo, just unveiled its flagship product: the world’s first made-to-measure 3D-printed e-bicycle with an impact-resistant unibody carbon fiber frame.
Motorsports, and Formula 1 in particular, is considered one of the driving segments for AM adoption. But one thing is the ability to rapidly produce lighter AM car parts and an entirely different thing, especially in F1, is the ability to actually use them. That’s because the regulations for additive manufacturing in Formula 1 are very (very) strict and sometimes block AM materials and applications.
LEHVOSS North America, a provider of thermoplastic 3D printing materials, has signed a formal agreement with Forward Engineering North America (FENA), a Michigan-based division of global engineering and consulting firm Forward Engineering GmbH that is focused on the use of fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials for the serial production of automotive structures.
Last April – in the midst of the first leg COVID-19 outbreak in the US, General Motors was tasked with building 30,000 COVID-19 ventilators for the national stockpile for a total of $489.4 million, the first contract under the Defense Production Act invoked by the US President Donal Trump.
The city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands presents a compelling example for the blending of traditional and modern architecture, design and technologies. Because much of the city was destroyed in WWII, Rotterdam had to rebuild, and it has taken an impressively forward-thinking approach throughout the decades. This innovative spirit is exemplified in the city’s latest project: the construction of a 3D printed composite footbridge.