News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Spanish automotive company SEAT has transformed its prototyping operations with the launch of an upgraded Prototype Development Center (PDC) in Martorell. The additional PDC facility, which spans 3,000 square meters, unifies the automaker’s pre-production operations into a single location. Central to the new location’s operations is a new, cutting-edge 3D Printing Lab.
Founded in 2019, Aeditive is a high-tech startup located in Norderstedt, next to Hamburg, targeting the booming construction 3D printing sector. The young company providing turnkey integrated robotic 3D printing solutions – based on the Concrete Aeditor system – to digitalize the construction industry, enabling all users of concrete to benefit from digitalization — regardless of their current technological competencies.
A lot of work went into this incredible success for Scuderia AlphaTauri but 3D printing with DSM Somos materials also played a part. Just last month the F1 team reported that it started using Somos PerFORM Reflect AM material to cut production time up to 30 percent, enhancing testing processes and increasing the speed and frequency of aerodynamic improvements. The results are now there for everyone to see after Sunday’s incredible victory by Pierre Gasly. And someone should be taking notes.
The Netherlands has proven to be a fertile environment for construction 3D printing, with established construction companies like Bruil and BAM embracing concrete 3D printing as a building method, and technology developers like CyBe and Vertico paving the way to new applications and more adoption. Vertico, a young Dutch company specializing in robotic concrete 3D printing, is now expanding its footprint, with the opening of a new 3D printing facility in the city of Eindhoven.
Though it may best be known for its tires, Continental AG has its fingers in many pies in the automotive sector, including part production, connectivity, automated driving and mobility services. These business areas are tackled by the company’s Continental Engineering Services (CES) division, which has been a keen adopter of additive manufacturing in recent years.
LTG Lofts to go, and Black Buffalo 3D Corporation, a Big Sun Holdings Group company and member of Hyundai BS&C family of companies formed a strategic partnership to advance production, distribution and availability of 3D printed mobile housing and commercial spaces across the globe.
Bruil, a(nother) Dutch construction firm offering construction 3D printing services, is officially looking for a post process engineer – or Post Processor – for its concrete 3D printed parts. The company specializes in high-quality mortars and precast concrete and it manufactures structural and finishing products at various locations in the Netherlands.
Barberio Colella Architetti and Dr. Angelo Figliola proposed a design to ameliorate temperature perception in Abu Dhabi’s urban microclimates using 3D printed sandstone. The design focuses on a city whose average temperature for 2019 was 28.9 degrees Celsius. The United Arab Emirates’ annual average in 2019 was 29.1 degrees Celsius. The city’s warmest month is August; the architects and Dr. Figliola’s design projects temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius in August. This substantial cooling effect helps make targeted areas more comfortable.
After working with Team Penske in five championship and over 70 race wins since 2017, Stratasys has announced an enhanced technical partnership with Penske. The parties have entered into a new multi-year partnership agreement, which allows Stratasys to maintain its technical support for the four systems currently deployed in Penske’s shop.
Given plans to revisit the lunar surface by the late 2020s and to take a crewed mission to Mars by the late 2030s, critical technologies must mature. In missions of extended duration, in situ resource utilization is necessary to both maximize scientific returns and minimize costs. While this presents a significantly more complex challenge in the resource-starved environment of Mars, it is similar to the increasing need to develop resource-efficient and zero-waste ecosystems on Earth. In a recent paper published on PLOS One, scientists at Singapore University of Technology and Design used recent advances in the field of bioinspired chitinous manufacturing to develop a Martian biolith to be used with additive manufacturing technology within the context of a minimal, artificial ecosystem that supports humans in a Martian environment.