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#276 2022-01-02 21:03:11

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: 3D Printers

A plastic frame for under support would be quite thick but would easily enhanced to create a great sealing for the interior once the concrete was dry. Of course the concrete would be thin layered to get the first hard shell in place then one could work the inside plastic surface with laser or other sources of heat to make the seams between layers bond tightly together.
At that point any shape would be possible from this method of construction.

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#277 2022-01-02 21:47:18

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

For SpaceNut re #276

I missed a beat there .... I was trying to suggest that with the right materials, you don't need a support underneath to make most of walls of a dome.  Your post #276 is talking about a plastic frame. I had just offered you an historical example of building a dome in Italy without a wooden scaffolding. 

It should be possible to take advantage of modern technology, modern mathematics, and the technique that worked in Italy hundreds of years ago, to build domes on Mars without scaffolding.

Another example of building a dome without scaffolding is the technique used by Eskimos (in the past if not currently).

In the age of ** real ** igloo construction, blocks of snow were shaped to form the walls of a structure so that the ceiling came together at the top, leaving a small hole for smoke to escape from an oil fire.

3D printing could be done is the modern age to achieve the same effect.

(th)

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#278 2022-01-20 13:07:13

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technol … d=msedgntp

The Motley Fool
3D Printing Could Soon Weld Plane and Car Parts Out of Metal
The Daily Upside - Yesterday 8:00 PM

© Provided by The Motley Fool

For more crisp and insightful business and economic news, subscribe to The Daily Upside newsletter. It's completely free and we guarantee you'll learn something new every day.

Imagine hitting Ctrl + P and out comes a car part.

That's the dream behind an innovative new 3D printing technology, which Massachusetts firm Seurat raised $21 million to develop on Wednesday with the support of a group of the world's most powerful manufacturers.

Heavy Metal Gutenberg
Okay, it's not actually as simple as hitting Ctrl + P, but what Seurat is working on could produce a major breakthrough in global manufacturing. While it's been around since the 1980s, 3D printing is mostly used to make plastic parts and prototypes. That made the tech useful at the onset of the pandemic when some places used the technology to make medical protective equipment, but the things that can be produced are still relatively small in scale and sometimes time consuming. The worldwide market for 3D printing products and services remains relatively small, at just $12.6 billion in 2020 according to data firm Statista.

The 3D printing frontier with breakthrough potential is metal, but companies have struggled to develop ways to make large car or plane parts, or metals for electronics, for less money and in less time than current manufacturing methods. Seurat thinks it has found a way:

The company has developed a high-powered laser beam that can be split into up to 2.3 million beams of light, which can be programmed to weld around high-resolution images.

Every beam, or "pixel," can pinpoint its own spot, allowing Seurat's system to weld large areas of metal powder instantly, which could allow companies to manufacture metal parts domestically and more quickly than through current supply chains — it can already produce multilayered objects 10 times faster than current 3D printing technology.

Will It Scale? Seurat has raised $75 million to develop its technology so far, but doesn't expect to begin even trying to commercialize it until later this year. On Wednesday the company said it has already secured letters of intent from seven of the world's biggest automotive, aerospace, energy, consumer electronics, and industrial companies to join its commercial program. Its impressive list of investors — which includes Xerox, GM, Porsche, and Siemens — may give a hint as to who those companies are.

(th)

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#279 2022-01-23 18:20:46

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Here is more detail on the new multii-point laser 3D Printer metal printed method...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/3d-printings … 01236.html


Joann Muller
Sun, January 23, 2022, 2:13 PM
A new metal 3D printing technology could revolutionize the way large industrial products like planes and cars are made, reducing the cost and carbon footprint of mass manufacturing.

Why it matters: 3D printing — also called additive manufacturing — has been used since the 1980s to make small plastic parts and prototypes. Metal printing is newer, and the challenge has been figuring out how to make things like large car parts faster and cheaper than traditional methods.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

A new method from a startup called Seurat Technologies — using a powerful laser technique — could be the breakthrough the industry has been waiting for.

If Seurat's method can be used on a large scale, fragile U.S. supply chains could be reimagined using low-cost “print depots” to manufacture parts domestically, at high volume, where and when they're needed.

Context: Today's metal 3D printing works by shining a laser onto a thin layer of metal powder, melting it and welding it to the layer below.

The digital design gradually takes shape as the layers accumulate and the object grows.

It's an extremely slow process, however. Even with multiple lasers, 3D metal printing hasn't accelerated fast enough to produce auto parts and consumer electronics in high numbers.

What's new: The technology from Seurat — named for the painter Georges Seurat, who studied the science of light and pioneered the style known as pointillism — speeds things up by splitting a single, high-powered laser beam into as many as 2.3 million beams of light.

A 30 kW laser is patterned with high-resolution images that can be programmed to block or let light through each of its pixels.

Every pixel defines its own laser spot, so the system can weld a large area of metal powder in an instant — allowing a multi-layered object to take shape 10 times faster than today's 3D printing technology.

"And it's not even the beginning of what we can do," Seurat CEO and co-founder James DeMuth tells Axios.

Seurat's technology, he says, is to 3D printing what the printing press was to pen and paper.

The backstory: The idea of pixelating a laser beam can be traced to the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory more than a decade ago, as DeMuth writes in a blog post.

He and other researchers were working on an entirely different problem — energy fusion — but the challenge was to design a reaction chamber that could withstand the extreme temperature swings that happen when lasers are used to produce energy.

After much trial and error, they adapted a patterned light method that was already in development at Livermore Labs for other purposes.

By 2015, DeMuth and Erik Toomre — a co-founder of Seurat — had proved that the technology would work for metal 3D printing, too. The company licensed the technology from Livermore Labs in January 2016.

What's next: Seurat, based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, says it has deals with seven of the world’s largest automotive, aerospace, energy and industrial companies to begin commercializing the technology this year.

The company has raised $78 million — including a $21 million Series B round extension announced Wednesday.

Its newest investors are Xerox Ventures and SIP Global Partners, which joined Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, DENSO, True Ventures, GM Ventures, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Siemens Energy and Maniv Mobility.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Jan. 19.

More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

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#280 2022-01-29 20:33:30

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Here is more support for the possibility of delivering affordable homes more rapidly using 3D printing.  The reporter picked up on worker concern about being displaced, but the demand for skilled workers is far greater than supply at present, and for the foreseeable future.

Plus! The houses whose walls are set by the machine need all the fitting and finishing that any house requires, so there will be ** more ** work, not less, if sales of the new homes rise to match backed up demand.

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/te … 51774.html

LA Times
Technology helps offer 3D-printed homes as an option for ownership
Melissa Hernandez
Sat, January 29, 2022, 6:00 AM·6 min read
For Apis Cor, a construction company based in Melbourne, Fla., building certain kinds of homes relies an awful lot on a key team member named Frank.

Frank has an arm that reaches more than 16 feet, said Anna Cheniuntai, the company's founder and chief executive, and can follow a computerized design blueprint while pushing out a steady stream of beaded construction material used to make walls.

Frank, you see, is a large, mechanical component of the technology used to build 3D-printed homes.

Proponents of the technology in recent years have pointed to 3D-printed homes as an innovative step toward addressing housing needs in the United States and elsewhere. Several projects are underway as communities cope with housing shortages and experiment with options.

The nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity unveiled its first 3D-printed home in December in Williamsburg, Va., and is due to unveil another in Tempe, Ariz., in February.

"We're at the very beginning of 3D printing" said Janet V. Green, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg in Virginia. "I hope that this does help some of the affordable housing crisis that we have across the nation."

Other examples exist inside and outside the U.S. In northern Italy, 3D-printed dome-shaped houses were made out of raw materials, such as clay. And in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Municipality, a government building, stands as the largest 3D-printed structure in the world.

Here's some of what several construction business officials and observers described as key points to know about 3D-printed housing:

Homes built with 3D-printed technology use large-scale equipment for much of the construction, but also rely on traditional techniques for other basic needs of a home, such as roofing, electrical wiring, insulation and window installation.

Andrew McCoy, professor and director of the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech University, said a general idea of what to expect in the U.S. would be a 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 3D-printed home that sells for about $264,000 to $330,000. As with any home construction, factors such as the region where the home is built, floor plan design, number of stories, textures and finishes can change the price of the home.

(th)

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#281 2022-03-02 07:27:41

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

Chinese startup says its 3D-printed rocket can cut costs by 80%
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/36Kr-K … osts-by-80

Boeing increases use of 3D printing to speed up production of WGS military satellite
https://spacenews.com/boeing-increases- … satellite/

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#282 2022-03-02 08:13:13

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Following up on the post by Mars_B4_Moon, here is a report on 3D Printed housing that seems well suited for Mars.

Instead of using the traditional straight walls, these Italian designers appear to be using the dome concept from Arabia.

They appear to be using locally sourced material to make the mortar for the printer, and that too seems similar to the ancient practices in Arabia.

The difference ** may ** be that the skill of the artisan is moved to the computer "brain" of the printer.

https://news.yahoo.com/building-sustain … 32181.html

(th)

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#283 2022-03-02 14:12:27

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Here's more about advances in 3D printing ...

From an advertisement ...

Metal 3D printing allows for innovation like never before, and infinitely so. No matter the scale or volume, designers and engineers can make complex geometries previously impossible with conventional methods; in fact, many traditional manufacturers today provide 3D printing services along with their other offerings, meeting customer demand for new technology as well as allowing them to enjoy the benefits of rapid prototyping, mass customization, and optimization of industrial parts.

Read on to learn:

Why <company> uses Binder Jetting for rapid prototyping and efficient 3D printing of high-performance parts.
How 3D printed steel is being used in critical industrial applications.
The properties and design guidelines for each of the metals <company> offers.

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#284 2022-03-18 07:20:24

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

Unlimited 3D printing for space

https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Unli … e_999.html

A standard 3D printer cannot produce anything bigger than the size limits of the printer itself. But this new IMPERIAL 3D printer, designed for use in space by a Europe-wide industrial consortium, can print high performance polymer parts of unlimited size along one dimension.

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#285 2022-03-21 07:12:52

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

A 'molecular drinks printer' claims to make anything from iced coffee to cocktails

https://www.engadget.com/cana-one-molec … 38817.html

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#287 2022-03-26 17:44:22

louis
Member
From: UK
Registered: 2008-03-24
Posts: 7,208

Re: 3D Printers

We definitely need machines like this on Mars from Sol 1.

My understanding is that 3D printing is used extensively in F1 racing now. That would suggest that issues over metal strength have been resolved.


Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com

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#288 2022-04-07 19:47:15

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Shapeways is a 3D Printer Service organization...

I am a member of their (quite large) community of customers...

They sent the following questionnaire, and I decided to offer it to the NewMars community to see if anyone is interested in posting any comments they might have ...

Shapeways Subscriber Interest Survey
At Shapeways, we're always trying to better understand the needs of our subscribers. Please fill out this short survey about your interests so that we may better serve you.
Question Title
* 1. What industry are you in?

Robotics

Aerospace/Drones

Automotive

Gaming

Medical

Foundry

Other
Question Title
* 2. What are you interested in learning more about?  (select all that apply):

Prototyping

Design for Additive Manufacturing

What materials to use for different applications

Material characteristics

Difference in 3D printing technologies

Finishing options

How 3D printing works with traditional manufacturing

Other
Question Title
* 3. What do you most frequently use 3D printing for?

For work only

For personal projects only

Majority work with some personal projects

Majority personal with some work projects

Both evenly
Question Title
4. How often do you have projects 3D printed?

Monthly

Quarterly

Twice a year

Once a year or more
Done

(th)

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#289 2022-04-20 05:52:23

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

it now moves to the area of biology and foods

3D-printed glass microstructures built with strength
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/3d-printe … -berkeley/

Will 3D Printed Kobe Beef Soon Be on Our Plates?
https://www.3dnatives.com/en/3d-printed … 604202204/
Alt Farm is a Hong Kong-based startup that develops 3D printed products that replicate the texture and appearance

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#290 2022-04-21 18:02:45

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

NASA's new material is a 1000-times stronger than its previous alloys. AI Material modeling and 3D printing makes discoveries possible in weeks now

https://interestingengineering.com/mate … s-stronger

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#291 2022-04-25 14:53:22

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

Making 3D printing truly 3D: eliminating need for 2D layering

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 … 161524.htm

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#292 2022-04-26 20:16:22

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

This text is from an email from a 3D printing company.... I don't see anything new here, but I do get a sense of continuing progress in advancing the state of the art.

Metal 3D printing and foundries have one thing in common: powerful manufacturing processes. And while 3D printing with metal is known for bringing modern, complex geometries to life out of seemingly nothing–and rapidly so–it also offers the unique ability to complement another technology or technique without taking it over.

Read on to learn more about:

    How 3D printing is used in pre-production for metal casting.
    The wide range of applications for 3D printed molds.
    How designers use Lost Wax Casting to produce parts with complex shapes and interlocking parts.
    The variety of materials <company> offers for metal additive manufacturing.

(th)

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#293 2022-05-08 12:31:02

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

China aims to build Dam with 3D printing with almost no human workers

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science … scientists

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#294 2022-05-11 18:17:28

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

The local 3D printer group is in hybrid session right now.

I am serving as host >> router for the online session.

There is one 3D Printer at the meeting site (that I can see through the laptop view) and (I would guess) about a half dozen folks in attendance.

The meeting will continue for at least another 45 minutes from now, so if anyone is interested in participating, drop a note here.

I'll check the forum occasionally.

I can send the logon credentials to your NewMars email.  It's 00:16 UTC now, so the meeting will continue through 1 AM UTC.

(th)

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#295 2022-05-20 13:34:47

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

China Is 3D Printing a Massive 590-Foot-Tall Dam

https://www.popularmechanics.com/techno … -tall-dam/

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#296 2022-05-24 06:49:35

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

Objects can now be 3D-printed in opaque resin
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-3d- … resin.html
A team of EPFL engineers has developed a 3D-printing method that uses light to make objects out of opaque resin in a matter of seconds. Their breakthrough could have promising applications in the biomedical industry, such as to make artificial arteries.

3D printed satellite antennas can be made in space with help of sunlight
https://www.space.com/satellites-antenn … d-in-space

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-05-24 06:58:41)

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#297 2022-05-25 08:31:39

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: 3D Printers

Current and ongoing work by kbd512, in several interrelated topics may be pointing to opportunities for NewMars members (present and future) to develop 3D Printer construction plans ("stl" files) for the Trough Solar Collector systems he is designing.

The reflective surfaces must be supported by frames, and (happily) those can be made of plastic suitable for outdoor service, ** and ** equally happily, the systems kbd512 is designing are intended to make synthetic fuel, and the precursors for synthetic fuel can be directed into manufacture of plastic.

Thus, an major component of a Trough Solar Collector can be made entirely with solar power as the source.

The objection of some (including members of this forum) that "green" power solutions require fossil fuel is both valid and falsifiable.

While the initial set of devices to harvest renewable energy require(d) fossil fuel for their construction, it is absolutely NOT necessary to continue that destructive practice. As soon as human engineers can achieve the mind set of using renewable energy for ALL phases of construction of renewable energy harvesting equipment, the better for everyone.

This post was about using 3D Printers to make the framework for proposed Solar Trough energy Collectors ... the designs can be produced in scale, and then expanded to full size when customer orders are in hand.  The objection of someone not familiar with 3D printers, that large 3D printers do not currently exist, would be in error.  Huge 3D printers have been build and are working in multiple countries.

What is more, gangs of 3D printers can be swarmed to produce large objects in parallel and simultaneously.  While I am not aware of any such swarms at present, the fact they can exist means (to me at least) that someone, somewhere is already developing them, or (more likely) ** has ** developed them, and we just don't know about it.

Update shortly after original post: The Chinese 3D Printer dam construction project would appear to be an example of a swarm design.

(th)

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#298 2022-06-01 10:28:28

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

3DCP builds the first 3D printed concrete tiny house in Europe
https://www.designboom.com/architecture … 5-30-2022/
Housing in the future will not consist of thousands of individual parts, but rather of a cohesive mass completely adapted to the needs of the residents. We can now offer this at a price that is far below what it would cost using conventional construction methods.’ 3DCP mentions.

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#299 2022-06-02 08:49:40

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: 3D Printers

I need to find a good biology newmars thread where I can post all this futurist human updates

Doctors Transplant 3-D Printed Ear Made of Human Cells
https://reporterwings.com/news/tech/doc … man-cells/

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#300 2022-06-02 21:38:21

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: 3D Printers

sort of like the realm of 3d printed meats there might be a topic but its going to be hard to find,,,,either science or life support

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