Cargo Business Techwire

Friday, March 20, 2015

New 3D printing method takes only minutes

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, could revolutionize how we make things, paving the way for the custom production of almost anything. Researchers are looking into applications of 3D printing ranging from printing entire houses to artificial human organs.

Ars Technica says the reason 3D printing hasn’t fully caught on yet is in part due to how time-consuming the process is—it typically relies on building items up through a layer-by-layer approach that can take many hours.

A team of UNC-Chapel Hill researchers has

developed a new 3D printing process that could be fast enough to change the tide for 3D printing. Their process allows for the continual printing of objects using a liquid interface in a single step, unlike the previous step-wise processes.

To accomplish this, the scientists took advantage of a problem typically associated with 3D printing methods that relies on light to initiate polymerization (photo-polymerization)—the ability to control oxygen levels.

For more of the Ars Technica story: arstechnica.com