News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Every year, a curated selection of young innovators from across research and industry are highlighted in the prestigious “Innovators Under 35 List” published by the MIT Technology Review. The list, which traditionally comprises the top 35 under 35 innovators, recognizes people who are conducting work that has the potential to change the world.
For the first time in the world, Russian scientists from 3D Bioprinting Solutions (3dbio) were able to bioprint bone tissue in space by growing fragments of bone structure in zero-gravity conditions. During experiments on the ISS, tissue samples were made from calcium phosphate ceramics, which were populated with living cells. These sample are now currently being comprehensively studied on Earth. In the future, this technology will enable the creation of bone implants for transplantation to cosmonauts on long-range interplanetary expeditions.
Fabrisonic, a specialist in solid-state metal AM, has once again teamed up with Luna Innovations, a manufacturer of medical, telecommunications, energy and defense technologies, to showcase the potential of its Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) process. In this particular project, the partners were enlisted by NASA to gather data from cryogenic fuel pipes for rocket test stands.
British Airways today announced it is interested in using 3D printing technologies to manufacture aircraft parts. The concept being explored by the British airline will involve installing 3D printers at airports around the globe for easy and on-demand spare part production. British Airways will begin trialling 3D printing as part of its ongoing initiative to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
German additive manufacturing expert SLM Solutions has partnered with American conglomerate Honeywell to qualify new 3D printing parameters with the aim of printing at increased thicknesses to save more time and money. Honeywell has been a proponent for additive manufacturing for some time and has adopted various forms of the technology for a range of applications. This in depth knowledge of AM and its industrial applications will be vital to the partnership with SLM Solutions, which specializes in selective laser melting.
Gardner Aerospace, a global manufacturer of aerospace components, has acquired FDM Digital Solutions, a UK-based 3D printing company. As part of the acquisition, FDM Digital Solutions will become integrated within the new Gardner Technology Center.
Oerlikon AM, the additive division of Swiss tech group Oerlikon, has announced a partnership with United Launch Alliance (ULA) at Formnext today. The AM company will additively manufacture and provide qualification and flight components to ULA—one of the world’s most recognized launch service providers—for its next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.
NASA has selected nScrypt’s 3Dn tabletop Factory in a Tool (FiT) for printing 3D print and 3D contour print silver and other conductive materials to support intelligent flight systems research at NASA’s Langley Research Center (LARC) in Hampton, Virginia. The system will be used specifically, for the creation of 3D antennas, sensors, and transmission lines on 3D surfaces at different angles. Creating 3D antennas and printing conformal antennas on non-flat surfaces are the top objectives of the NASA research project.
Among the newest generations of products, drones are arguably those that best embody the concept of innovation. Not only for their technical characteristics, but also for the cutting-edge technologies used to develop and build them. As a manufacturing process, 3D printing is increasingly used within the drone production cycle, mainly for prototyping. Italdron, an Italian company specializing in the design and production of innovative commercial drones, has been using 3D printing since 2014 and has further raised the bar by collaborating with WASP for the production of its latest, futuristic models. This latest application case clearly demonstrates how the right AM technology is now mature enough to ensure reliable final components and, at the same time, significantly reduce development times and costs.
SAE International released the first Additive Manufacturing (AM) Polymer specifications for the aerospace industry. AMS7100: Fuse Filament Fabrication Process and AMS7101: Material for Fused Filament Fabrication represent the first specifications released under the AMS-AM Additive Manufacturing Non-Metallic (AMS-AM-P) committee. These standards were created following a request from airlines through the International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s EMG to be able to realize additively manufactured plastic cabin parts.