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MIT Launches ADAPT Consortium for Additive Manufacturing

MIT, which has been responsible for several major 3D printing breakthroughs in various departments, has announced that is has formed a new industry-facing consortium called the Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies (ADAPT). The consortium’s major focus will be on additive manufacturing, and is based on four key pillars: visionary research, scalable education platforms, actionable strategic insights, and a vibrant academic-industry ecosystem based at MIT.

“Two of the largest barriers to AM adoption are confidence and know-how,” Program Manager Haden Quinlan told 3DPrint.com. “Among other activities, ADAPT is well poised to leverage MIT’s strengths as a global leader in education to help overcome these challenges at scale. ADAPT will build upon the successes of our previous professional coursework – including both our in-person course, Additive Manufacturing: From 3D Printing to the Factory Floor, and our online program, Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Design and Production.”

ADAPT will begin several exploratory research projects involving faculty and graduate students this month. It will also accelerate the establishment of a new advanced additive manufacturing laboratory at MIT and host members-only events and flagship symposia.

“Recognizing that the challenges of implementing digital manufacturing solutions are as challenging as their value propositions are promising, ADAPT’s core research focus resides in multidisciplinary, early-stage research with outsize potential,” Quinlan continued. “Our faculty span Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Computation and Artificial Intelligence, and Business Strategy. By pooling membership funds to aggressively address high-value fundamental research across those topic areas, our work will complement and accelerate the important, more applied work of other research entities.”

ADAPT is being directed by Professor A. John Hart, who also leads MIT’s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity and oversees the design and manufacturing facilities in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

I am thrilled to launch ADAPT to accelerate MIT’s efforts toward enabling a next generation of production technologies, wherein AM is a cornerstone,” he said. “Moreover, AM–and the path toward a responsive, digital manufacturing infrastructure both within and between organizations–requires multidisciplinary expertise at the cutting edge of mechanical engineering, computer science, materials, and other fields. We deeply appreciate the support of our founding members, and look forward to solidifying our research, education, and engagement programs in the coming term.”

ADAPT’s founding members include ArcelorMittal, Autodesk, BigRep, Bosch in North America, Dentsply Sirona, EOS, Formlabs, General Motors, Mimaki Engineering Company, Protolabs, Renishaw and Volkswagen Group.

“ADAPT is still welcoming new companies,” Quinlan told us. “In line with our multidisciplinary research focus, we seek a broad distribution of members positioned across the AM value chain. Importantly, we value diversity of perspectives, as well as seek to engage companies with ambitious internal goals for the future of AM and digital production that align well with ADAPT’s vision.”

The members of the ADAPT consortium celebrated its official kickoff at the formnext exhibition in November, and will meet again at MIT in the spring of 2019.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

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MIT Developments: A Faster 3D Printer and Antibacterial 3D Printed Cellulose

(L to R) Adam Stevens and A. John Hart [Image: Stuart Darsch]

Researchers at MIT have developed a new 3D printer print head that can deposit material at extremely high speed, creating objects in minutes instead of hours. A. John Hart, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity and the Mechanosynthesis Group at MIT, is an expert on 3D printing and is working to advance the development and adoption of the technology. One thing 3D printing needs to be, he believes, is faster.

Hart worked with doctoral student Adam Stevens and graduate Jamison Go, who now works as a mechanical engineer at Desktop Metal, to study several commercial FFF desktop 3D printers. The team concluded that the 3D printers’ volumetric building rates were limited by three factors: how much force the print head could apply as it pushed the material through the nozzle; how quickly it could transfer heat to the material to get it to melt; and how fast the printer could move the print head.

They then developed a 3D printer that circumvents all three of those limitations. The design involves a filament with a threaded surface that goes into the top of the print head between two rollers that keep it from twisting. It then enters the center of a rotating nut, which is turned by a motor-run belt and has internal threads that mesh with the external threads on the filament. As the nut turns, it pushes the filament into a quartz chamber surrounded by gold foil. A laser then enters from the side and is reflected multiple times by the gold foil, passing through the filament and heating it.

The filament then enters a hot metal block where it is heated to a temperature above its melting point. It continues to melt and narrow as it descends and is eventually extruded.

It sounds complicated, but it’s much faster than standard 3D printers, in which the filament is pushed by two small, rotating wheels. If you try to speed things up by adding more force, the wheels lose traction and the filament stops moving. That’s not an issue with the MIT design; the matching threads on the filament and nut ensure maximum contact between them, and the system can transfer a high force to the filament without losing grip.

Typical 3D printers also rely on thermal conduction between the moving filament and a heated block. A higher feed rate may not completely melt the filament, but preheating the filament with a laser ensures that it is entirely melted by the time it gets to the nozzle. Tests showed that the researchers’ print head can deliver at least two and a half times more force to the filament than standard desktop 3D printers can, achieving an extrusion rate 14 times greater.

Because the extrusion rate was so high, the researchers needed to find a way to move the print head fast enough to keep up. They designed an H-shaped metal overhead suspension gantry that has a continuous belt that travels around pulleys powered by two motors mounted on the stationary frame. The print head sits on top of a stage that is connected to the belt and is carried quickly and smoothly through the prescribed positions within each plane.

The researchers 3D printed a series of test objects, including a pair of eyeglass frames, which took 3.6 minutes; a small spiral cup, which took just over six minutes; and a helical bevel gear in just over 10 minutes. The printed layers were highly uniform, and the parts showed themselves to be strong and robust in tests of their mechanical properties. The researchers also 3D printed the same object with their printer and several commercial models: a triangular prism 20 mm tall. For a comparable resolution, the printer achieved an average volumetric build rate up to 10 times higher than the other printers.

The printer wasn’t without its issues; for example, the high build rates resulted in layers that did not adhere well, as well as distortion. These problems were solved, however, by directing a controlled flow of cooling air onto newly extruded material. The researchers are also working on improving the printer’s accuracy by coordinating the extrusion rate and print head speed, as well as implementing new control algorithms.

MIT’s 3D printer prototype cost about $15,000, making it an unlikely candidate for replacing most desktop models. However, it could be competitive with some higher-end professional 3D printers.

Hart and his team are also working on developing new 3D printing materials that are environmentally friendly and easy to source – like cellulose. Cellulose has many advantages: it’s inexpensive, biodegradable, renewable, robust and chemically versatile. It’s difficult to 3D print, however, because it tends to decompose when heated.

Hart and former postdoc Sebastian Pattinson worked with cellulose acetate, a chemically treated form of cellulose that has fewer hydrogen bonds and thus makes it less prone to decomposition. First, the cellulose acetate was dissolved in an acetone solvent to form a viscous material that flows easily through a printer nozzle at room temperature. As the mixture spreads across the print bead, the acetone solvent quickly evaporates, leaving the cellulose acetate behind. Immersing the printed object in sodium hydroxide removes the acetate and restores the full network of hydrogen bonds that give cellulose its strength.

The researchers were able to 3D print complex objects with good mechanical properties from the material. Their strength and stiffness were even found to be superior to objects printed from common 3D printing materials. The researchers then began experimenting further.

“You can modify cellulose in different ways, for example, to increase its mechanical properties or to add color,” said Hart.

The researchers modified the cellulose acetate by adding antimicrobial properties. They 3D printed a series of disks, some from plain cellulose acetate and some with antimicrobial dye added, and deposited a solution containing E. coli bacteria on each one. They left some of the disks in the dark and exposed others to light from a fluorescent light bulb. After 20 hours, analysis showed that the disks made with dye and exposed to the light had 95 percent fewer bacteria than the others. They then 3D printed surgical tweezers as an example of a tool that could be made with the valuable antimicrobial properties.

Hart believes that there is commercial potential for their cellulose 3D printing process. Cellulose is inexpensive and widely available, and can be printed at room temperature, eliminating the need for a costly heat source. As long as the acetone is captured and recycled, it’s also an environmentally friendly process.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

[Source: MIT]

 

 

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MIT’s direct-write colloid 3D printing unlocks new possibilities in electronics and energy

Working on the nanoscale, MIT researchers have 3D printed centimeter-long structures that could change the face of electronics and optical sensors. The method relies on the self-assembly principles of colloids – particles between 1 nm and 1 μm wide. In the method, billions of polystyrene colloids fuse together to build structures programmed by the research team. […]
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MIT Offers 11-Week Online Course in 3D Printing

Some incredible advancements in 3D and 4D printing have come out of MIT, including glass 3D printing, 3D printed construction and much more. There’s a high concentration of knowledge about the technology at the school, and for several years now MIT has been sharing that knowledge through a series of additive manufacturing courses. Beginning on October 1st, MIT will be offering the latest installation in its additive manufacturing course series, developed by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering A. John Hart. The 11-week course will take place online and will teach participants all about additive manufacturing technologies, their applications and their business potential.

We spoke with MIT’s Liz Jukovsky to learn more about this year’s course.

What makes this course different from other additive manufacturing courses MIT has offered in the past?

“Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Design and Production is an online certificate program tailored to professionals, from engineers to executives. The course content was designed by A. John Hart, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, to provide learners with the knowledge and confidence they need to identify and evaluate the applications of AM in the product life cycle. Over six weeks, participants will acquire the vocabulary necessary to navigate the complex, multivariate landscape of additive manufacturing and will learn to design parts for AM that combine engineering intuition with computationally-driven design and process-specific constraints. The course leverages indispensable resources such as advanced CAD, generative design, and process planning software, as well as in-depth case studies that allow learners to apply their new AM knowledge to real-world business problems.”

Who should attend?

“The course is open to any interested participant. The faculty strongly recommend that learners have a basic understanding of math and physics, and that they carefully review the course information to decide whether this program is right for them.”

What can attendees expect to be able to achieve once they’ve completed the course?

“Upon completing the course, learners can expect to:

  • Understand the fundamental principles and workflow for AM of polymers, metals, and composites, and how these principles govern the performance and limitations of each mainstream AM process.

  • Acquire the vocabulary necessary to navigate the complex, multivariate landscape of additive manufacturing equipment, materials, and applications.

  • Learn to identify how, when, and where AM can create value across the entire product lifecycle, from design concepts to end-of-life; and how to select an AM process and material for a specific application.

  • Acquire the skills necessary to design parts for AM that combine engineering intuition with computationally-driven design and process-specific constraints.

  • Quantitatively assess the value of an additively manufactured part based on its production cost and performance.

  • Evaluate the business case for transitioning a product to be made using AM versus the conventional approach, either in part or in whole.

  • Develop a cutting-edge perspective on digital transformation and the factory of the future.”

Is there anything else potential attendees should know? 

“We have a free, public webinar on the course, led by Professor Hart, on Monday, September 10th at 12pm ET. It’s 60 minutes long and covers:

  • The course structure and how content is delivered

  • Key learning objectives

  • Who should take the course

  • Participant questions during a live Q&A session”

A lot of experience and knowledge has gone into the development of MIT’s additive manufacturing course, and participants can expect to gain a great deal of information and skill that they can take back into their lives and workplaces. The fee for the course is $1,950, with group pricing available. Enrollment is now open. You can also check out the course preview videos below:

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

[Images: MIT]