What materials 3d printers use? + curiosities
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Material 3d Printers let’s focus on polymers or plastics
ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
ABS is very tough, hard, and rigid plastic. It can withstand high temperatures and is easy to paint over.
It is very resistant and has a certain flexibility. Printing with this material requires a hotbed or hot printing base where the piece is deposited to achieve the necessary stability.
Filament rolls are obtained from the print residues, but be careful during printing to ensure proper ventilation as it generates harmful gases.
It is not biodegradable. This material is capable of withstanding high temperatures.
A material obtained from natural materials such as corn starch or sugar cane is biodegradable and does not emit toxic gases during printing. It does not need a hot base. It does not resist temperatures as high as ABS; from 140°F or 60ºC, it starts to decompose. It is not very easy to paint.
Laybrick
It is a mixture of various plastic materials and plaster; you get pieces that look like sandstone. It can be easily painted and sanded. It is more expensive than the previous ones.
Laywoo-D3
Made of a polymer and 40% wood powder. You get pieces with a certain resemblance to wood. The parts obtained can be sanded, sawed, and painted. It costs as much as lay brick.
Filaflex
It is an elastic filament with a polyurethane base and other additives that give it high elasticity. Printing with this material is slow. It prints shoes, prostheses, mobile phone cases, etc.
3d printer can create many and varied models, including home objects, models, food, space components, prosthesis, human organs, etc.
Let’s say that everything you can create yourself can exist in 3 dimensions. Nothing resists 3D printers.
It is logical to think that these printers are for small objects only, but nothing could be further from the truth since large printers can even print a building in pieces with its furniture included.
NASA itself will send one of these 3D printers to the International Space Station so that the astronauts can manufacture parts they consider necessary in space.
Even houses can be manufactured using 3D printers. In China, a whole village has already been constructed at around 500 euros per square meter and in just a few dozen days. The villa was built by modules in the factory and then placed where the owner wanted it.
And the company Yves Behar is teaming up with non-profit New Story to build a 3D printed concrete village in rural Latin America.
Set to be constructed soon, the home’s design is an affordable housing option for local farmers and weavers; these homes are cheaper alternatives to traditional houses; a 3d printed home can go as low as 4,000 US dollars.
The exact location is yet to be revealed, but Behar is planning an entire community of houses to show how to use 3d printing in rural and low-income areas.
Curiosities about 3d Printing
In 1999 the first human organs were printed. The printed organs have synthetic coatings made from the patient’s cells, which minimizes the risk of rejection.
The Rep-Rap project is an initiative born at the University of Bath (United Kingdom) to create a printer with self-replicating capacity. Darwin was the first 3d printer capable of printing most of its components to build new printers.
3D printing has many medical field applications, but did you know that it can overlay living cells instead of plastic?
It is called bio-printing. It involves layers of living cells with 3D printing technology to create living tissue. These 3D-printed organs may be viable as an alternative to organ transplants soon.
It could end the need for organ donors and revolutionize the medical industry.
Have you ever heard of aerogel? Visit aerogel is an ultra-lightweight material with a rating of about 99.8 percent air and 0.2 percent solid (see aerogel).
This unique material has tremendous insulation potential and can even protect humans from intense heat and open flame.
Aerogel has applications in biomedicine, the construction industry, and even the aerospace industry. And now, it is possible to print this versatile material with a particular type of 3D printer.
When most people imagine machines and robots, they imagine hard metal parts and pieces.
But with 3D printing technology, it is possible to make soft robots. So what are soft robots, and why are they important? These robots have delicate, flexible parts that behave more like organic material.
It makes it easier for robots to imitate the movements of human hands. Soft robots can bend, twist, and move more like living creatures.
