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3D Printed Bridge Was a Labor of Love for Army Engineer

[Image courtesy of US Army Engineer Research and Development Center]

At Camp Pendleton in Southern California, mechanical engineer Megan Kreiger with the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center spent some time recently working with a team on a project that would have been unheard of not too long ago: a 3D printed bridge. Thanks to developments in large-scale 3D printing technology and construction materials, there are now several 3D printed bridges, both metal and concrete, installed around the world. Kreiger and her team 3D printed a 32-foot-long reinforced concrete footbridge, but Kreiger has bigger goals in mind. She wants to 3D print a modern-day version of a Bailey bridge.

“It would be phenomenal if we could make a bridge that could support a tank,” she said.

3D printing the footbridge wasn’t exactly easy, though, thanks to the weather – when Kreiger first arrived, it was raining so hard that there were mudslides.

“It’s hard to print in torrential downpours,” she said. “It was crazy.”

The bridge was successfully printed, however, and it wasn’t the first successful large-scale 3D printing project that Kreiger has led. She was involved in last year’s endeavor to 3D print concrete barracks, the first full-scale 3D printed reinforced concrete building in the United States engineered for permitting. 32 x 16 feet with eight-foot-tall walls, the barracks was 3D printed using a deployable printer designed to be used by troops in remote locations.

[Image: Sarah Saunders]

Kreiger first learned about 3D printing at Michigan Technological University, where she ran the 3D printing lab during her graduate studies in material science and engineering. She joined the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center in 2015, and has been responsible for the development of a new type of concrete for 3D printed construction. She and her family own three 3D printers themselves, one that she built herself. They have 3D printed a variety of items, including an orange juicer, magnets, brackets and self-scans.

Captain Matt Friedell is Program Manager for the Marine Corps Systems Command’s construction additive manufacturing, the main sponsor for the 3D printed barracks project. He was impressed by Kreiger’s passion for the technology when he first met her in 2016.

[Image: Sarah Saunders]

“She spoke in grand terms of where the technology will take humanity in the future,” he said. “She took that vision and used it as the kindling to ignite others’ imaginations.”

Kreiger’s enthusiasm for additive manufacturing and construction has led her to build great things with the technology already, and she has plenty of plans to create a lot more in the future. Not only does 3D printing cut back on the human labor required for construction, it allows for quick establishment of housing, bridges and more in remote, otherwise hard to reach areas – which can be a lifesaver for not only the military but civilians as well.

“My goal is to establish additive construction as a viable method and introduce the benefits of large-scale 3D printing to military and commercial construction,” Kreiger said. “I want to push forward and test the limits of the construction industry.”

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

[Source: Engineering News Record]

nScrypt Delivers 1 Meter Factory in a Tool to the US Army

Precision Micro-Dispensing and 3D printing manufacturer, nScrypt, based in Orlando, FL, whose bioprinter will travel to the International Space Station in 2019, has delivered a 3Dn-1000 multi-material Factory in a Tool (FiT) platform to the US Army’s Redstone Arsenal. According to nScrypt’s CEO, Ken Church,

“our line of FiTs are fully integrated systems capable of digitally fabricating anything from 2D and 3D printed circuit structures (PCS) to biological structures and can be used almost anywhere on the digital manufacturing floor. Our tools operate in series or parallel on a fast (up to 1 mps), high-precision (up to 10nm resolution, 500nm repeatability, 1 micron accuracy) linear motion gantry.”

The FiT delivered to the Army has 1 full meter of travel in the XY axis at a speed of up to 1 mps (meters per second) and can run 5 tool heads simultaneously, without tool changes. The 1 meter FiT can run nScrypt’s proprietary nFD tool head for Material Extrusion, SmartPump for Precision Micro-Dispensing, nMill for micro-milling, nPnP360 for pick and place of electronic components and subassemblies, an automated PulseForge 1300 photonic curing system, and a femtosecond laser for cutting or sintering materials. The tool heads are monitored by multiple cameras for automated inspection and computer vision routines. The system also includes a point laser height sensor for Z-tracking and mapping for conformal printing onto objects of any surface shape.

According to nScrypt, the FiT’s SmartPump’s Micro-Dispensing tool head eliminates drooling with pico-liter volumetric control and boasts the widest range of materials available for any Micro-Dispensing system: more than 10,000 commercially available materials, ranging from a few centipoise (such as water) to millions of centipoise (much thicker than peanut butter). nScrypt claims the SmartPump’s pen tip has the smallest commercially available diameter, 10 microns.

nScrypt claims that the 3Dn-1000’s nFD extruder tool head can 3D print the widest range of thermoplastics, composites, and continuous carbon fiber. If a material is not available in a filament format, the FiT’s nFDh hopper option loads thermoplastic and composite injection molding pellets.

Precision microdispensing, material extrusion, micro milling and pick and place tool heads can all be run simultaneously.

nScrypt CEO Ken Church said:

“nScrypt is proud to work side by side with the Army to enable the warfighter. nScrypt has now delivered a total of 6 FiT systems to multiple Army bases and labs. This 1 meter tool continues to add fast, precision Direct Digital Manufacturing capabilities inside the DoD.”

Lance Hall from Army RDECOM AMRDEC stated:

“This system provides up to a meter of printing in X and Y directions while maintaining precision; this will touch many DoD products.”

The Army’s machine dimensions are 7’5” (2.28 m) wide by 7’4” (2.25 m) long by 6’9” (2.21 m) tall, weighing in at roughly 12,000 lbs. (6 tons or 5443 Kilos). Much of the weight comes from the base of the gantry, which is a precision ground granite block 8” (20 CM) thick and weighing 5,000 lbs. (2267 Kilos) , which provides a stable foundation for the FiT’s precision manufacturing.

3Dn-1000 machine during final inspection before shipping.

The photo below shows the 3Dn-1000 being hoisted by crane for installation on an upper floor of one of the Redstone Arsenal buildings.

3Dn-1000 being hoisted for installation

nScrypt offers its FiT in 3 base models (based on size) and multiple configurations: 2 base models for solder, vias, and adhesives, 3 for Direct Digital Manufacturing, and bioprinting configurations. All of the FiT systems use one of two basic hardware configurations: the 3Dn-Tabletop is based on a precision ball screw motion platform and the 3Dn-300, 3Dn-500, and 3Dn-1000 systems are linear gantry systems. The 3Dn-300 has 300 millimeters of travel in the XY axis and the 3Dn-500 has 500 millimeters of travel in the XY axis. All of the tools and configurations share the same vision: a user-friendly and customizable GUI (Graphical User Interface), z-tracking/height sensing, precision motion control, and common software and electronic controllers, which simplify operation, maintenance, servicing, training, and reconfiguration. Lining up two or more systems creates what nScrypt calls its Factory in a Line. Contact nScrypt to learn more.

How Gigantic Delta Printers by Tractus3D are used in Signage & Retail

With the rise of large format 3D printing over the past few years, commercial uses are diversifying every day. Larger prints are making their way into manufacturing, construction and so many more industries. However, Tractus3D is highlighting another use for large format additive manufacturing: signage, retail and displays for everyday stores, businesses and exhibitions. Their machines […]

The post How Gigantic Delta Printers by Tractus3D are used in Signage & Retail appeared first on 3D Printing.

VIBA redesigns the Honda Monkey as Jane with the help of 3D printing

VIBA, a French manufacturer of limited edition bikes, has redesigned a classic motorbike using 3D printed parts. The project was completed in collaboration with German metal 3D printing specialists, SLM solutions and Rolf Lenk. Yann Bakonyi, the founder of VIBA said, “At tradeshows we see a lot of [3D printed] parts, but they are usually just […]

Open Bionics raises $5.9 million to make affordable 3D printed bionic limbs

Open Bionics, a company focused on creating affordable, 3D printed, bioninc limbs for amputees, has closed a Series A funding round. Led by Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund, the company has successfully raised $5.9 million from Ananda Impact Ventures and early stage VC Downing Ventures. The money will be used to support Open Bionics’ international distribution, and […]

Internet-Controlled Drawing Robot Plotti Botti #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi

Super cool project from 8bitsandabyte on Hackster.io:

The Plotti Botti is an XY plotter attached to a whiteboard, which can be controlled by anyone via LetsRobot.tv.

When it’s online, you can find the Plotti Botti here.

Renishaw Using Metal 3D Printing to Create Custom Styli for Manufacturers

3D printed custom hollow titanium stylus, for REVO 5-axis inspection system

This past summer, Renishaw introduced a 3D printed version, made with its metal laser powder bed fusion technology, to its range of available styli. Now in the new year, the company is launching even more 3D printed styli, so its customers will be able to fabricate complex parts calls for more customized solutions.

Renishaw provides its customers with in-house styli solutions that are both complex and turnkey, and that have the capability of accessing part features that other styli can’t reach. By using flexible metal 3D printing technology to fabricate these custom components, project lead time can decrease. In addition, metal 3D printing can also be used to create parts and components with complex shapes and structures that could not be manufactured using more conventional methods, such as strong yet lightweight lattice structures and complicated geometry with internal structures.

Because Renishaw’s metal 3D printing can achieve such design flexibility, it can ensure repeatable metrology for its customers, and can create and customize 3D printed styli for all sorts of applications.

Customers can add female titanium threads (M2/M3/M4/M5) to fit any additional stylus from Renishaw, and gain more flexibility when it comes to accessing the critical features of a component by adding a curved, 3D printed stylus to its REVO 5-axis inspection system. Renishaw can also add on a larger tip to its styli with 3D printing, which is necessary for components with larger features.

Because it’s using 3D printing to fabricate its styli, Renishaw can achieve:

complex geometry – styli can meet access requirements for complicated parts
custom design – Renishaw designs and produces all its 3D printed styli in-house
design freedom – designing parts for end use, and not for inspection
highly accurate metrology – Renishaw uses metal 3D printing to achieve strong, lightweight structures with repeatable metrology results

Because it 3D prints all of its styli in-house, the company can ensure high quality and short lead times, so production won’t be held up. Additionally, 3D printed styli provide access to features that are unable to be reached with more traditional versions, meaning that parts won’t need to be designed for metrology access any longer.

Renishaw writes, “Disc styli are a solution for measuring large features on components, but designing them has been problematic in the past. The discs could only be manufactured in ceramic, which limited the sizes it was possible to produce. A custom AM stylus can provide a stiff and lightweight structure that can be manufactured to a larger diameter than a ceramic styli. A 100 mm titanium disc, with ground outer surface, designed and made by Renishaw, weighs just 13 grams, which means it can be fitted to the REVO multi-sensor platform. it provides a 70% reduction in weight compared with a conventional disc stylus of this size.”

3D printed 100 mm disc stylus

More measurement options are opened up with 3D printed custom styli for metrology applications, as the technology, as previously mentioned, can produce more complex shapes that allow inspection of features that were not accessible before now. Renishaw’s 3D printed styli are even more flexible, as they’re designed to “heighten the capability of the REVO® 5-axis CMM multi-sensor platform.”

By combining the flexibility of 3D printing and the REVO multi-sensor platform, manufacturers can enjoy greater part design freedom. To take advantage of all these benefits, check out Renishaw’s comprehensive custom design services for metrology.

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

[Source: Renishaw]

Budmen Industries 3D print a chair with large-format BUILDER 3D printer

Budmen Industries, a team of designers and innovators, has made a 3D printed chair called the ‘The Resolute Chair’ to show the capabilities of their large-format BUILDER 3D printer. According to the creators, “The Resolute Chair get its name from our 5 year pursuit to design and build a 3D printer that could reliably print […]

Flying Fish #3DPrinting #3DThursday

amaochan shared this project on Thingiverse!

Flying Fish

Flying fish live in the warm waters of the tropical and subtropical surface waters. They live in groups and have a habit of swim. They are mainly fed with zooplankton, but they are also an important food source for a large migratory fish. In the spring, with the Kuroshio northward, it is one of the important fish species in Taiwan’s fisheries. It is also a species of the traditional cultural significance of the natives of Orchid Island in the southeastern Taiwan.

See more!

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

Breathing mask / Atemschutz Maske/ Staubmaske #3DThursday #3DPrinting

Shared by Luckygross on Thingiverse:

The filters are available at OBI
The rubber is a piece of bicycle hose
Printed with an Anet A8 made of ABS

Download the files and learn more