News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
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.
Following in the footsteps of construction 3D printing pioneers D-Shape and Contour Crafting, ICON, a developer of advanced construction technologies including robotics, software, and building materials, has been awarded a government Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract. The deal includes funding from NASA to begin research and development on Project Olympus: a space-based construction system that could support future exploration of the Moon. ICON will also dedicate a division of the company to focus on space.
ACCIONA, a global leader in sustainable infrastructure solutions, is taking part in the United Arab Emirate’s 3D Emerging Technologies exhibition, the Middle East’s largest and most influential event for the additive manufacturing industry.
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.
Sterling Backus’ 3D printed Lamborghini was one of 3dpbm’s biggest stories ever and rightly so. The project is truly amazing: to think that someone could 3D print several parts of an Aventador replica’s body at home, on basic desktop systems (used as a base shape for composites), and actually build a working car seemed impossible. And yet, here it is: the (almost) final product looks truly amazing and it is a great inspiration for STEM education, which is exactly what Backus set out to promote.
Dutch construction design firm Studio RAP has been 3D printing ceramic tiles for their work on design elements of the pioneering New Delft Blue project in the historic Dutch city of Delft. After printing these tests at Studio RAP’s workshop, the tiles went straight into the kiln at Koninklijke Tichelaar where they were also beautifully glazed.