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development (Fig. 2). It is also claimed to set a new standard for automated 3D printing, office integration and reliability.
Parts in eight colours
HP has launched two Designjet 3D printers, with prices starting around €13 000. The HP Designjet 3D printer creates accurate models in ivory-coloured ABS, while the HP Designjet Color 3D printer produces parts in eight colours. Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager of
HP’s large-format printing business, says: “The affordability of the HP Designjet 3D printers means that businesses that choose these products are likely to see a return on investment very quickly. If they are outsourcing just five to ten models per month, the printer can pay for itself in one year and, if only one error is detected before tooling, it can potentially save them thousands.”
The Sprint project team intends to develop a compact, energy-efficient machine, together with a range of compatible polymer materials. The machine will precisely deposit powder using an adapted industrial laser printer before the entire layer is fused by infrared radiant heater. Jason Jones, who leads the project, comments: “Selective laser printing has the potential to compete with conventional manufacturing techniques without the requirement for expensive moulds.” DMU’s Professor David Wimpenny adds: “The machine
we are developing will produce parts with outstanding mechanical properties because every layer is fused using controlled heat and pressure. The process also has high processing speeds and excellent resolution.”
Tutankhamun’s mummy
3D printing is now an extremely versatile process, with applications far beyond the creation of parts for product development purposes. For example, Materialise, the Belgium-based rapid
prototyping bureau, has recently used stereolithography to create a replica of King Tutankhamun’s mummy for the Discovery Times Square exposition in New York. The operation was led by natural history and prehistoric model maker Gary Staab, of Staab Studios. The process began by importing CT (computed tomography)
scans of the Tutankhamun mummy into Materialise’s Mimics software to create an exact 3D model of the mummy. From there, 3-matic software hollowed the model. Hollowing is important because it reduces the amount of material used, speeds the build and makes the final product lighter. Once the digital model was ready, the team used its Magics
software to fix the file and make the model ‘watertight’ - which is a crucial step in 3D printing. Materialise used one of its very large Mammoth
Fig. 5. The latest generation of office-friendly 3D printers, such as Z Corporation’s ZPrinter 350, are faster, cheaper to buy and run, and build robust and durable models.
The new machines also feature the HP Designjet 3D Removal System, which removes excess model material within a normal office environment. In addition, the 3D printers produce models that are ready-to-handle without gloves, and the printing and post-processing of the models is automatic, requiring no manual finishing. Built from ABS, the models are durable and functional.
Complex plastic parts on demand
Researchers at De Montfort University (DMU) in the UK are looking to develop a machine that will produce complex plastic parts on demand, using laser printers and powder. DMU’s Rapid Manufacturing and Prototyping Group is part of a £750 000 (approximately €900 000) project, part-funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board, called Selective Laser Printing of High Performance Polymers (Sprint). Parts produced this way could be used in industries such as aerospace and automotive. As well as the Technology Strategy Board, other partners
include rapid manufacturing specialists MTT Technology, Renishaw and Parker.
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stereolithography machines to build the model (Fig. 3). Because the build material is a liquid resin, the part must be supported as it is built; Materialise’s e-Stage software automatically generates these supports, but they are easily removed afterwards during the post-processing stage (Fig. 4). From Materialise’s facility in Belgium, Tutankhamun’s
model was transported to the Staab studio in Missouri, where Gary Staab added detail, colour and texture to make the replica appear identical to King Tutankhamun’s mummy. While the mummy model is an extreme example of what 3D printing can achieve, companies wishing to implement 3D printing in an office or research and development environment can today take advantages of the latest generation of machines that are characterised by being faster, more user-friendly, and cheaper to buy and run, with the resultant models being robust and durable (Fig. 5).
Functional and aesthetic advantages
In many cases, the machines’ resolution can challenge that offered by rapid prototyping and manufacturing machines that, not long ago, were considered to be the state of the art. Indeed, today the boundaries between ‘office’ 3D printing and these other ‘high-end’ technologies are now becoming blurred. Furthermore, the ability to print with multiple materials offers users significant functional and aesthetic advantages. l
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