News MIT researchers demonstrate a new technique for rapid 3D printing using scrap metal and beds of sand-like glass beads

[Admin]

Researchers at MIT have developed a new method for 3D printing that could be beneficial for construction, design, architecture, automotive, and other applications, as it's fast and makes use of aluminum scraps.

MIT researchers demonstrate a new technique for rapid 3D printing using scrap metal and beds of sand-like glass beads : Read more

 

[derekullo]

Solving the problem of needing the cheapest most uncomfortable chair possible!

 

[atomicWAR]

Solving the problem of needing the cheapest most uncomfortable chair possible!

ROFL...I came to comment when they can 3D print wheelchairs (paraplegic here), then talk to me about it. I would love to skip all the vendors and just make my own. After 26 years using a chair, I know exactly what I like. And yes comfort is key so I won't be a first gen adopter.

 

[pug_s]

I doubt that this idea is original. If you watch youtube videos, you can watch people pour molten aluminum on ant nests and then dig up the remains of it.

 

[Notton]

I doubt that this idea is original. If you watch youtube videos, you can watch people pour molten aluminum on ant nests and then dig up the remains of it.

That ant nest method you are thinking of is called "sand casting", and it's ancient.

However, unlike sand casting, there is no need to painstakingly prep the mold to get the shape you want.

Looking at the video, the "resolution", or level of detail, looks awful, but it can print complex shapes.

 

[Findecanor]

It indeed looks like an alternative to sand casting.

I wonder which alloys that are viable. There are alloys more suitable for casting, but parts machined from those have different properties than if machined from an alloy intended for machining.

And why do these researchers don't wear protective masks around those microscopic glass beads?