Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has brought with it the ability to customize creations in ways never before possible. Shapes, materials, and colors can all be programmatically altered before short production runs of as little as a single unit — but work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is looking to take things a stage further through the use of lenticular lenses.Known to most as the secret behind those “3D” bookmarks and posters available from at least one stall at every market in the world, lenticular lenses allow for different images to be seen when a surface is viewed from different angles. The MIT team has not only developed a way to print these lenses on a 3D printer, but also created software to make their design as easy as possible — demonstrating the project’s potential with devices ranging from a kettlebell that lets you know when your form is good to secret-message shoes designed to cheer the wearer up.<h2 data-hhh-border-width="" data-hhh-border-style="" data-hhh-border-color="" data-hhh-background="" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(255, 210, 63); background: rgba(255, 210, 63, 0.25);">Multi-image surfaces</h2>Lenticular lenses work by magnifying the surface beneath, making it so different parts of the surface are visible from different angles — and are typically limited to two-dimensional objects like posters or CD covers.“One reason why lenticular prints do not yet exist in the form of 3D objects is that up until recently,” the researchers explain, “no fabrication process existed that was able to manufacture the lenticular lenses and high resolution color patterns on doubly curved surfaces. However, over the last years, multi-material 3D printers have been developed that can print with a multitude of materials and in high-resolution color.”<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxMTc0ODczMzQ5LWxlbnRpY3VsYXI0LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A diagram showing 19 colours circles, themselves arranged in a circle, under a lenticular lens, labeled &quot;color pattern for 19 different viewpoints.&quot; A second image shows a 3D rendering of the lens seen from each of the 19 viewpoints, showing a unique color from each viewpoint.">3D modeling software developed at MIT is capable of designing lenticular lenses good for an impressive 19 unique viewpoints, but the limitations of 3D printing technology mean fewer are possible in reality.Using an off-the-shelf multi-material 3D printer, the team set about creating lenticular lenses which could be printed alongside the rest of the object — requiring only a little post-processing, in the form of the application of varnish or oil, to increase their light transmission. That, however, was only half the problem solved: The other half was figuring out where the lenses needed to go, and what should be underneath them to produce the desired effect.For this the team developed custom software designed as a plug-in for the Rhino3D modeling tool. Using the plugin, a designer can import the 3D model of any object, add a lens layer, and apply textures with the colors to be seen from each of the possible viewpoints — up to 19 in theory, the team found through computer modeling, though that number is presently unachievable on commercial 3D printing hardware.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxMTc0ODg5NTg1LWxlbnRpY3VsYXIyLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Images of a 3D-printed shoe, both real photographs and 3D ray-traced renders from the MIT modeling software. The left-hand images show the show from above, with the message &quot;CHEER UP!&quot; visible on the toe area; the right-hand images show the same show from an angle, with the message no longer visible.">The team's software calculates the lens layer and the underlying textures ready for printing; a ray-traced render is shown for each viewpoint for confirmation.Using ray-tracing technology, the software simulates the way light travels through the lenses from each of the possible viewpoints in order to allow the object designer to confirm the texture that will be shown. Once confirmed, the data is sent to the printer — and the whole object, including the lenses, is printed in a single pass.<h2 data-hhh-border-width="" data-hhh-border-style="" data-hhh-border-color="" data-hhh-background="" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(255, 210, 63); background: rgba(255, 210, 63, 0.25);">Functional objects</h2>Lenticular prints are often considered novelties, but the MIT team believes there’s a lot more to the technology than at first glimpse. To prove it, the software was used to generate a series of functional objects — the most functional of which is a kettlebell weight, fitted with a lenticular shell designed and printed using the custom plugin.When the user lifts the kettlebell to the correct exercise position, they’ll see a checkmark; fail to lift the kettlebell high enough and they’ll see an arrow pointing upwards, providing feedback as to the mistake and how to correct it. If the kettlebell is lifted too high, meanwhile, the symbol shifts into a downward arrow — and all entirely passively, with no active electronics or sensing devices to be found.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxMTc0OTAzMzUwLWxlbnRpY3VsYXIzLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Three images of a user holding a kettlebell weight at arm's length. In the first image, the kettlebell is too low; in the second, at the right height; in the third, too high. For each, real photographs and 3D renders of the lenticular kettlebell are shown: when it's too high, a blue up-arrow is visible; at the right height, a green checkmark; too high, a red down-arrow.">Although frequently associated with art and entertainment, lenticular lenses can create functional objects — like this form-checking kettlebell.Other demonstrations put together by the team include: A lampshade which reads “Good Night” when the user is lying in bed and “Good Day” when they are sitting up; an earpod case which shifts through a series of five striped patterns at different angles, as an aesthetic implementation; and a pair of shoes which appear plain to observers but show a colorful “Cheer Up” message to the wearer.A final demonstration serves as an experiment in switching to cylindrical lens shapes, which are just as compatible with 3D printing as the traditional round lenses used for the other objects. Offering higher spatial resolution with the limitation of only shifting along a single axis, the cylindrical lenses were used to create a container which reveals its contents only when held to eye-level.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxMTc0OTE4NDU3LWxlbnRpY3VsYXI1LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Two photographs of a container created using cylindrical lenticular lenses. The left-hand image shows stripes to the upper-right of the container with no visible text; the right-hand image, from a different angle, reveals the text &quot;MINIMAL WOODY 3.46 oz.&quot;">While the team's software currently focuses on round lenses, cylindrical lenses — which offer a higher resolution — are also possible.While admitting to limitations in the work’s current state — including the ability for the designer to accidentally create invalid viewing angles, the application of lenses on top of rather than within object geometry adding 3mm (around 0.12") of thickness to the target surface, the lenses altering the surface texture and haptics of an object — the team has shown a solid basis for future work, which is to include enhancements to the software and experimentation with dynamic lens sizing.The team’s work has been published in the <cite><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3472749.3474815" target="_blank">Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST '21)</a></cite> under open-access terms.<h2 data-hhh-border-width="" data-hhh-border-style="" data-hhh-border-color="" data-hhh-background="" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(255, 210, 63); background: rgba(255, 210, 63, 0.25);">Reference</h2>Jiani Zeng, Honghao Deng, Yunyi Zhu, Michael Wessely, Axel Kilian, and Stefanie Mueller: <cite>Lenticular Objects: 3D Printed Objects with Lenticular Lens Surfaces That Can Change their Appearance Depending on the Viewpoint, The 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Pages 1184–1196</cite>. DOI <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3472749.3474815" target="_blank">10.1145/3472749.3474815</a>.

This lampshade, printed in-place on a commercial multi-material 3D printer, shows what's possible with MIT's lenticular object technology.

Modeled in software before being printed on a commercial 3D printer in a single pass, these "lenticular objects" from MIT show different imagery depending on the angle at which they're viewed — for everything from exercise form feedback to secret messaging.

3D printed in a single pass, these objects demonstrate the potential for lenticular lens surface technology

An update for Ultimaker S-line printers, Firmware 6.5 helps to improve your 3D printing workflow, as we introduce more streamlined troubleshooting and error handling, and the ability to import material profiles from USB. And with this release, Material Station users will enjoy even better material handling, with more reliability.<section>For more on how Firmware 6.5 makes material handling and troubleshooting quicker and easier, watch the video below and scroll down for more on each feature.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WW_L9n5KEgo?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 789px; height: 450px;" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe><h2>Import material profiles from USB</h2><section id="isPasted">If you have been 3D printing with 3rd-party materials but haven&rsquo;t installed the material profile to your printer, you can now install them via USB. This is especially useful if you print offline and don&rsquo;t synchronize across your network.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjI1ODI1ODE4ODA1LWV6Z2lmLTYtNGQ5NGM1NTgxMWQ1LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><section id="isPasted">To import material profiles to your printer via USB, simply slice your print job in Ultimaker Cura with the third party material profile and save it to USB. If you then select Import Material Profiles from the Settings menu, your printer will scan the USB for unknown material profiles and install them. This makes your printing workflow much easier, as the printer will then automatically recognize these profiles for future prints.<h2>Improved error handling for all users</h2>With the release of Firmware 6.5, we have improved the error handling of ER998. This expands on improvements made in Firmware 6.4, that introduced a Reboot button for errors that required a printer reboot.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjI1ODI1ODYyMTIyLWV6Z2lmLTYtMTViYzFlZDQzODY3LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Error 998 causes the touchscreen software to freeze &ndash; sometimes during printing. Rebooting the printer solves the problem, but also stops printing. But with this firmware release, you will no longer need to completely reboot your machine. Instead, you can reboot the touchscreen alone by clicking on the Refresh button that will automatically appear.For more information, you can visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011599420-ER998-An-unspecified-error-has-occurred" target="_blank">ER998 support page</a>.<h2>Optimized material handling for the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle and Material Station</h2>A number of improvements have been launched for the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle and Material Station:<ul><li>Improved material unloading increases reliability</li><li>More accurate material loading for greater efficiency</li></ul><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjI1ODI1ODg1MzY0LWV6Z2lmLTYtNTJmMWJjOGFlOWMyLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><section id="isPasted"><h2>Improvements to the material unloading process</h2>When a print ends or switches materials, the filament is retracted back into the Ultimaker S5 Material Station. This initiates the <a href="https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012412780-What-is-the-prime-deprime-procedure-" target="_blank">deprime process</a>, which ensures that the material has a clean tip with no stringing. With Firmware 6.5, this process is enhanced.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjI1ODI1OTI1Mzk0LWV6Z2lmLTYtYThkNDI5YTVmNjRjLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The enhanced deprime process has been extended to include more generic materials. This is in addition to improvements made to the (un)loading of Ultimaker materials in Firmware 6.4. Both of these advancements improve the reliability of the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle and Material Station by significantly reducing issues caused by filament blockage or friction when loading material.<div id="isPasted"><div>Recommended reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/pushing-the-limits-of-fff-together-lifting-a-12-tonne-tank-with-a-plastic-3d-print" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pushing the limits of FFF together: Lifting a 12-tonne tank with a plastic 3D print</a></div></div><h2>Updated material loading procedure</h2>Firmware 6.5 makes the material loading process more efficient for the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle and Material Station. How? The Ultimaker S5 contains a flow sensor in the printer&rsquo;s feeders. With the updated loading procedure, these sensors will detect the tip of the filament and calculate its distance from the nozzle. This more efficient material handling decreases the chances of filament grinding and loading errors.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjI1ODI1OTcwMjA3LWV6Z2lmLTYtYjYyYmVmZGU5ZjJiLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></section></section></section></section>

An update for Ultimaker S-line printers, Firmware 6.5 helps to improve your 3D printing workflow, as we introduce more streamlined troubleshooting and error handling, and the ability to import material profiles from USB. 

Increase the productivity of your 3D printing workflow with Ultimaker Firmware 6.5

In collaboration with global engineering technologies company <a href="https://www.renishaw.com/en/renishaw-enhancing-efficiency-in-manufacturing-and-healthcare--1030" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Renishaw</a>, this article explores how to overcome this issue and the use of additive manufacturing to produce intricate and complex copper structures for heat exchangers.<h2>Copper 3D Printing Breakthroughs</h2>“Additive manufacturing (AM) is a breakthrough technology that is transforming the manufacturing industry,” explained Kenneth Nai, Principal Engineer at Renishaw. “This digitally-driven process gives engineers the design freedom to create and manufacture parts with complex structures that would never have been possible with traditional machining.”Traditionally, heat exchangers are made from thin sheets of material that are welded together. The complex geometry of heat exchanger designs makes production challenging and time-consuming. AM systems build parts layer-by-layer, only adding material where needed, to produce lightweight yet complex components, making this process attractive for manufacturing heat exchangers.“While its high thermal conductivity makes copper the ideal material for heat exchangers, the properties of the material can create challenges when using an AM system,” continued Nai. “The laser sintering of copper powder with an infra-red laser at a wavelength of 1070 nm is difficult because copper is very reflective at that wavelength. Therefore, only a small amount of the laser energy is absorbed into the powder, and a critical threshold of absorption is required to melt the powder together. Combining the high thermal conductivity of copper and the laser energy required, leads to instability and often results in poor mechanical properties of the finished part.”Renishaw has collaborated with&nbsp;nTopology&nbsp;to demonstrate to manufacturers that, by using the right software and system together, they can reliably additively manufacture intricate structures from copper.“Combining Renishaw’s RenAM 500S AM system and nTopology software demonstrated an easy method for designing intricate structures suitable for use in heat exchangers and how it can be integrated with Renishaw’s build preparation software, QuantAM,” explained Nai. “At New Mills, our headquarters in Gloucestershire, UK, a RenAM 500S system, with a single 500 Watts laser and 70 micron laser spot size, was loaded with 99.9% pure copper powder supplied by Carpenter Additive. The system was optimized to work with this material. The system was able to manufacture thin walls with a thickness of 0.35 mm and solids with a density over 98 percent, prior to heat treatment in 30-micron layers.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559437990-Thin_Wall_Cylinders.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Thin Wall Cylinders (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559454040-Wall_Thickness_of_Cylinders.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Wall Thickness of Cylinders (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559470906-10mm_cubes.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">10mm Cubes (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559493429-copper_cube39.jpg" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Polished section of a 10 mm copper cube — measured optical density of 99.3% (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;Designing TPMS Structures for Heat ExchangersnTopology software was used to generate Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) that are ideal for heat exchangers as they generally require maximizing the amount of surface area within a given volume.First, a wall thickness of 0.35 mm and cell sizes of 2 mm and 5 mm was used to design these gyroid TPMS structures. Then, nTopology was used to slice the design into 30-micron layers and exported the boundaries and hatches as CLI files. Finally, the CLI files were imported into Renishaw’s QuantAM software to generate the build file for printing by the machine. CLI files remove the need for the traditional STL file format which has many disadvantages when used to describe complex intricate structures like these.<h3>Generating the TPMS Gyroids</h3>The design process started with using the Walled TPMS Block in nTopology to generate a gyroid with a wall thickness of 0.1 mm and cell sizes of 2 and 5 mm.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559532258-nTop_Walled_TPMS_Block.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3>The Slicing Step</h3>The Walled TPMS Block&nbsp;was then sliced using the Slice Body Block to give the sliced boundaries of the gyroid. A layer thickness of 0.03 mm is used as that is the layer thickness of the machine.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559559894-nTop_Slice_Body_Block.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559572839-Sliced_Layers_Gyroid.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">30µm sliced layers of the gyroid showing the boundaries (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp; The first boundary slice stack was sliced again to give the area between the boundaries, also commonly known as hatching. Generally, when 3D printing a part in layers, the laser would scribe or infill the body of the part for that layer first and then scribe the boundary for the part. &nbsp;An offset of -0.05 mm was used to standoff the hatching from the boundary using the Offset Slice Stack Block.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559610412-nTop_Offset_Slice_Stack_Block.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559592850-Hatching_Area_Layers.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Hatching area for the layers (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;Exporting to QuantAM and ManufacturingBoth the Sliced Boundary and Hatching Stacks were exported as 2 CLI files for print preparation. The CLI files were imported into Renishaw’s build preparation software, QuantAM.QuantAM adds the machine parameters and generates a file that enables the machine to print the part. Note: Using CLI files removes the need of converting to STL files which are often huge in size and difficult to generate for complex geometries!<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559645705-Single_Layer_QuantAM.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Single layer view from QuantAM. &nbsp;Red areas are the Boundaries and Yellow are the Hatching. (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559665139-Single_Layer_QuantAM_Close_Up.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Close up view from QuantAM. &nbsp;Red areas are the Boundaries and Yellow are the Hatching. (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559689374-Test_Sample_2mm_Cell_Size.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Test sample with 2 mm cell size (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615559709041-Test_Sample_5mm_Cell_Size.png" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Test sample with 5 mm cell size (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp;<h2><div class="fr-img-space-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1615560002574-gyroid-576x1024+%281%29.jpg" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Final part design (Image courtesy of Renishaw)&nbsp; From test samples to end-products</div></h2>This article outlined the progress in additive manufacturing of commercially pure copper with the Renishaw AM systems. Heat exchanger design is the most prominent application of this new technology. nTopology equips engineers with the right tools to design advanced heat exchangers that greatly outperform traditional designs and meet the demands of high-performance products.<hr>This article was first published on the <a href="https://ntopology.com/blog/2021/02/25/copper-additive-manufacturing-for-heat-exchanger-design/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nTopology blog</a>.

Final part design (Image courtesy of Renishaw)

Commercially pure copper is a highly desirable material for heat exchangers and electrical components due to its excellent thermal and electrical properties. While these properties are beneficial for the application, they also turn the process of using copper in AM into a challenge.

Copper Additive Manufacturing for Heat Exchanger Design

“Toughness” is a combination of an object’s strength (how easily it breaks) and ductility (how easily it deforms). In this way, toughness and impact resistance are one and the same – especially in material science, as toughness is a measure for how easily your part breaks upon impact.<section><h2>Why are toughness and impact resistance important?</h2>Next to strength, toughness is often the most important mechanical property. A tough part will deform before it shatters or breaks, and will also be able to better withstand impact.<h2>Common uses of tough and impact-resistant materials</h2>Tough and impact-resistant materials are often used in jigs, fixtures, and tools in production lines and in the manufacturing industry. <a href="https://ultimaker.com/learn/heineken-ensuring-production-continuity-with-3d-printing" target="_blank">Heineken</a>, for example, creates parts that are durable enough for everyday use in its manufacturing plants. At its pilot plant in Cologne, Germany, <a href="https://ultimaker.com/learn/ford-reinventing-efficient-manufacturing-using-3d-printing" target="_blank">Ford</a> also uses tough and impact-resistant jigs, tools, and fixtures that must be able to survive intensive use by human operators and on assembly lines. Additionally, <a href="https://ultimaker.com/learn/schubert-a-digital-warehouse-for-on-demand-manufacturing" target="_blank">Gerhard Schubert GmbH</a> uses tough materials to create parts for its multipurpose top-loading packaging machines.<h2>What else should you know?</h2><ul><li><a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials" target="_blank">Ultimaker’s portfolio</a> of tough and impact-resistant materials include Ultimaker Tough PLA, Nylon, TPU 95A and ABS</li><li>Nylon and TPU materials are often used for extreme toughness, with Tough PLA, ABS, CPE+, PP and PC (black and white) used for reasonable toughness</li><li>Materials that are not tough (brittle) are PLA, CPE and PC transparent</li><li>Carbon fiber materials are also often not tough, as they are stiff and therefore brittle, while glass fiber materials are more beneficial for impact resistance &nbsp;</li><li>Flexible materials are often tough, as they are resistant to breaking</li></ul><h2>Our tough and impact-resistant material partners</h2><h3>Lubrizol</h3><a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/estane-3d-tpu-f70d" target="_blank">Estane® 3D TPU F70D</a> is a semi-rigid Shore D 70 polyether based TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) at low temperatures while providing UV stability with high transparency.<a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/estane-3d-tpu-f98a" target="_blank">Estane® 3D TPU F98A</a> is a high-clarity fast printing Shore A 98 polycaprolactone-based TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) delivering excellent mechanical properties with low warpage and shrinkage.“Lubrizol Estane® 3D F70D which has excellent toughness even at cold temperatures where other materials already become brittle, making it very practical for outdoor exposed applications or parts in freezing environments,” Miguel Navarro, Application Development Engineer for Lubrizol Engineered Polymers, said. “Lubrizol also provides a solution when repetitive impacts are present: Lubrizol Estane® 3D F98A is a flexible material used in applications such as footwear or in automated production lines because of its high elongation at break, which allows it to absorb and dissipate the energy from impacts, thus protecting other materials or objects.”&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611652779397-EstaneTPU-F98A-030_CR_HC_PL.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with Lubrizol Estane® 3D TPU F98A&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Jabil Engineered Materials</h3><a href="https://marketplace.ultimaker.com/app/cura/materials/Eric_Johnson/Jabil_SEBS95A_2019" target="_blank">TPE SEBS 1300 95 A</a> is a modified styrene block copolymer elastomer with a unique set of properties, including very high elongation at break on the XY axis (&gt;780%), which translates into excellent impact strength and abrasion resistance. These attributes, along with a rubber-like feel makes TPE SEBS 95 A a great option to add a soft-touch grip for end of arm tooling (EOAT), material holding nests, boots, and strain reliefs. <img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611652861839-jabil-tpe-sebs-1300-95.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with Jabil TPE SEBS 1300 95A&nbsp;"TPE SEBS 95A is also unique as it's an easy to print filament that does not absorb moisture, unlike other elastomers. This translates to easier printability, fewer failed prints and exceptional layer-to-layer adhesion," Matt Torosian, Director of Product Management and Additive Manufacturing at Jabil, said.<h3>Arkema</h3><a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/arkema-3dxflex-tm-tpe" target="_blank">3DXFLEX™ TPE</a> is an easy to print material with excellent layer adhesion. It's made from Arkema's Pebax® Polyether block amide elastomer, which is highly regarded for lightness, unmatched energy return, and cold temperature durability."Pebax® resin, from which 3DXFlex TPE is created, is a world famous material in tough applications like running and cleated shoes,” Steve Serpe, Market Manager at Arkema, said. “These require a demanding service life and take a phenomenal beating of flex cycles and impacts. We tried hard, but failed to break 3DXFlex TPE during impact testing, even in Z axis at -40 C! This extreme performance is now possible for FFF parts."<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611652923495-ARKEMA-3DFLEX-TPE.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Parts printed with Arkema 3DXFLEX™ TPE&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611652956739-Arkema-Pebax-part-1d.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3>BASF 3D Printing Solutions</h3><a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/owens-corning-xstrand-gf30-pa6" target="_blank">XSTRAND® GF30-PA6</a> is a reinforced PA6 nylon filament with 30% glass fiber, making it up to 250% stronger than neat ABS or nylon.<a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/owens-corning-xstrand-r-gf30-pp" target="_blank">XSTRAND® GF30-PP</a> is a reinforced polypropylene filament with 30% glass fiber content. GF30-PP delivers superior strength and chemical and UV resistance. With low moisture absorption, this filament is perfect for sports and leisure applications.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611652987400-OC_XSTRAND_GF30-PA6.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with XSTRAND® GF30-PA6&nbsp;<div class="fr-img-space-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611653002946-OC-XSTRAND-GF30-PP.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with XSTRAND® GF30-PP&nbsp;"XSTRAND®  GF30 PA &amp; GF30 PP is a class of unique glass fiber-reinforced engineering filaments that offer users an ideal combination of high stiffness, toughness, and chemical resistance,” Roger Sijlbing, Head of Sales Additive Extrusion Solutions (AES) at BASF Forward AM, said. “With these materials, you can increase your efficiency by 3D printing tools on-demand that are able to withstand high loads in tough environments. Industrial end-users will also be able to explore new applications and business models with XSTRAND®  filaments.”<h3>Mitsubishi Chemical</h3>With excellent weathering, UV stability, impact performance, and stiffness, <a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/mitsubishi-chemical-3diakon" target="_blank">3Diakon™</a> is an ideal material of choice for outdoor applications and uses and for casting processes where a clean burn to ensure low ash residue is critical to performance. <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611653029886-daikon.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with Mitsubishi Chemical 3Diakon™&nbsp;<a href="https://ultimaker.com/materials/mitsubishi-chemical-durabio" target="_blank">DURABIO™</a> is a bio-based, BPA-free engineering 3D printing material developed by Mitsubishi Chemical. With high transparency, similar to Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), but better impact behavior and improved heat resistance, DURABIO™ closes the gap between Polycarbonate (PC) and PMMA.&nbsp; <div class="fr-img-space-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1611653054792-a-vehicle-Grill---mitsubishi-durabio.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A part printed with Mitsubishi Chemical DURABIO™&nbsp;"DURABIO™ combines most of the advantageous properties of Polycarbonate (PC) and those of PMMA," Stefano Bertani, Sales &amp; Marketing at Mitsubishi Chemical, said. “In addition to good impact resistance, UV and scratch resistance are key features that explain why DURABIO™ is being used in many MIC (mold in color), high-gloss applications. DURABIO™ beats the well-known inferior properties of PC in regards to scratch resistance, hardness, and chemical resistance.”Ready to get started? You can explore Ultimaker’s range of 3D printers that are compatible with tough and impact-resistant materials.</div></div></div></section>

Schubert uses tough and impact-resistant materials to create parts for its top-loading packaging machines

“Toughness” is a combination of an object’s strength (how easily it breaks) and ductility (how easily it deforms). In this way, toughness and impact resistance are one and the same – especially in material science, as toughness is a measure for how easily your part breaks upon impact.

Tough and impact-resistant materials: A beginner's guide

In our latest 3D printing podcast episode, we talk to Danielle Glasbergen-Benning, who is an Application Development Specialist for DSM Additive Manufacturing.

Episode 2: Application-driven materials, with Danielle Glasbergen-Benning, DSM

In our first episode, we visit L’Oréal headquarters in Clichy, France to chat with Matthew Forester, the company’s Additive Manufacturing Technical Manager.

Episode 1: The 3 stages of adopting additive, with Matthew Forrester, L'Oreal

Our third episode is an interview with key members of the Ultimaker team, who share their knowledge and insight into the evolving role of FFF 3D printing, in both manufacturing and design.

Episode 3: The future of manufacturing

At Ultimaker, we rigorously test our materials to provide the best possible results. Not only to ensure excellent mechanical and aesthetic properties, but also so that the preconfigured settings in our Ultimaker Cura software offer a hassle-free 3D printing experience. In this blog we give an insight into this process and look at how we test and develop various combinations of 3D printing materials.<section>Having preconfigured profiles in our software makes it easy for users to start printing without any delays. Our materials and processing engineers look at a number of factors when optimizing material profiles. From the type of printer and nozzle size to needs like speed and strength, there are certain criteria that must be met before a profile is added to <a href="https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura" target="_blank">Ultimaker Cura</a>.This same rigorous process has also been applied to developing composite material profiles (printable on the Ultimaker S5), in collaboration with world-leading material manufacturers – including <a href="https://ultimaker.com/learn/owens-corning-creating-the-perfect-material-profiles-for-customers" target="_blank">Owens Corning</a>.<h2>Behind preconfigured material profiles</h2>In order to refine a material’s optimal printing settings, first the team establishes a baseline for recommended settings, like nozzle and bed temperature.Then, an extensive testing and evaluation process ensures that print profiles are optimized. Material parameters such as temperature and fan settings are all analyzed and adjusted accordingly. The team also looks at the relevant speeds, wall thickness, line widths, infill, and acceleration to help set up the right material profile. Finally, a series of test prints are made to check issues like layer splitting, warping and oozing.</section><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1603016694145-Benchy_test_prints.webp" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 788px;"><section><h2>Creating the perfect profile</h2>Ultimaker Cura offers over 300 possible settings. For our preconfigured profiles, these settings have been designed to take the guesswork out for you, so you can print reliably without the need for a lot of experimentation and manual configuration.Of course, using your own custom settings is also possible, depending on what you’re trying to do with your print. For dual extrusion prints, there are also setting options for both extruders in Ultimaker Cura, so you can adjust these individually.<h2>Combining two materials</h2>With a dual extrusion printer like the <a href="https://ultimaker.com/3d-printers/ultimaker-s5" target="_blank">Ultimaker S5</a>, you can print items using two materials. This is particularly useful when it comes to support materials like Breakaway and PVA. However, it’s important to remember that some materials combine better than others due to their properties.Breakaway has been designed as a support material that adheres well to other materials like PLA, Tough PLA, Nylon, ABS, CPE, and CPE+. PVA combines well with PLA, Tough PLA, Nylon, and CPE.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1603016750623-Material_compatibility_table.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">This diagram shows officially supported, experimental, and not supported material combinations. Officially supported materials can be used together reliably without problems. Experimental materials can be used together, but may not give reliable results that meet our quality standards. Materials that are not supported cannot be used together.One of the most commonly used materials, ABS, is not recommended to print with PVA as it has a tendency to warp at the point between the two materials. So if you need to support an overhang on an ABS print, you can use our removable <a href="https://ultimaker.com/learn/which-3d-printing-supports-to-use-pla-pva-or-breakaway" target="_blank">Breakaway</a> support material instead.When TPU 95A is combined with another material, it can result in negative artifacts on the print called ‘oozing’ due to its flexible nature. Some material combinations experienced more oozing than others. These are marked as unsupported, rather than experimental.PP, while a useful material due to its fatigue-resistant properties and widespread use in manufacturing, struggles to stick to anything other than itself so it is not recommended in dual extrusion prints.Another factor to consider with dual extrusion prints is the nozzle size that is used. For instance, printing Breakaway with a 0.25 mm nozzle results in support material that is not easy to remove and may cause damage to the print if too much force is applied. When in doubt, always refer to the <a href="https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011461000" target="_blank">compatibility tables</a>.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1603016828466-PVA_after.webp" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">While some material combinations are technically printable, due to a lack of practical applications not all combinations have been fully explored, which is why some of our combinations are marked as not supported.Trying out new materials and discovering how different settings work can be useful if you are working on a unique or unusual project. For reliable printing, however, preconfigured printing profiles can save a lot of time. Knowing which materials can be combined, and which ones don’t work so well together, can help you in producing prints that meet your needs.</section>

At Ultimaker, we rigorously test our materials to provide the best possible results. Not only to ensure excellent mechanical and aesthetic properties, but also so that the preconfigured settings in our Ultimaker Cura software offer a hassle-free 3D printing experience.

How we test 3D printing material combinations

I&#39;ve covered different ways automobile manufacturers are benefiting from the advantages <a href="https://www.3erp.com/services/3d-printing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">3D printing</a> brings to the forefront. As technology is gaining a more mainstream foothold within the automobile industry, many companies are taking note, but many are using it in different capacities and for various purposes. These needs can encompass anything, from tools to spare parts/supply chain management to end-use parts and even full cars.It&rsquo;s interesting to see how far the technology has come, how it&rsquo;s employed by the big names in the industry and where they see it going fort their future production chains. This article aims to provide insight into the many ways some of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the world use 3D printing in their workflow.<h1>BMW</h1><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577987804482-bmw-prototype.jpg" style="width: 1114px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">As most 3D printing is used for smaller volume production runs, there is a lot of room for customization and adding complexity using the unique elements that 3D printing allows. BMW is no stranger to such forms of design and manufacturing, employing 3D printing in pre-development, vehicle validation, and testing, or in concept and show cars. They employ the technology for larger volumes, but smaller production runs allow them to personalize products precisely to their customer&rsquo;s needs.The company has been prolific in their use of additive manufacturing, noting that they potentially see &ldquo;great future potential for serial production and new customer offers&rdquo; (according to BMW&rsquo;s experts in Germany). They&rsquo;ve been using the technology to enhance both plastic and metal components. They&rsquo;ve most famously been working with HP to produce products on their large scale manufacturing systems.Like many other companies on this list, BMW has been using it as a means of producing parts that other technologies cannot create. A good example of this is the i8 Roadster&rsquo;s top cover. Making the mounting for this component would not have been possible using a traditional casting process. Aside from expanding the design possibilities, the 3D printed car part is more durable and it also weighs less than previous iterations.Similarly, BMW unveiled the iFE.20 Formula E racer with a 3D printed cooling shaft manufactured from flax fibers. The part was shown off at the end of 2019. Compared to the usual carbon materials, flax has greater absorption and greater impact resistance, which can be advantageous on the street circuits with their bumps and crash barriers, on which Formula E takes place. This made it the first BMW racecar fielded by a work team with parts made out of renewable textile fibers, also making it environmentally friendly.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577987841677-gloves-prototype.jpg">BMW&rsquo;s Gloves With Protected ThumbThe company uses 3D printing for tooling and safety as well. A good example of this is the specialized gloves they use to finish off the stoppers for drain holes. These stoppers have to be manually set with the engineer&rsquo;s fingers, which means a lot of strain on the thumbs. Luckily, they came up with the 3D printed solution that could be fitted onto the work gloves.Even aside from their work on their own automobiles, the company&rsquo;s engineers have been lending a hand to outside projects. One example is the development of the bespoke 3D-printed seats for the British Paralympics Basketball team. Using 3D body scans and the latest in additive manufacturing, BMW&rsquo;s engineers constructed a whole fleet of wheelchairs allowing for players to display a more advanced level of athletic prowess.<h1>Ford</h1><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577987898671-Jigs-and-Fiextures.jpg">Ford&rsquo;s Jigs &amp; FixturesAs far as commitment to 3D printing goes, Ford is running headfirst into embracing the technology. The company set up an additive manufacturing center and employed its operations extensively into their workflows. In terms of creating plastic and metal prints, they&rsquo;ve had a long-running partnership with various companies such as Ultimaker, Stratasys and GE Additive, who provide machines for all sorts of AM applications across the production chain.They also use 3D printing to cut cost and time for tooling, as the company found that it was quicker to make their own parts on the facility as opposed to waiting for suppliers and other such things. They also apply these same principles to jigs and fixtures, which they develop in facilities all over the world.They&rsquo;ve expanded their 3D printing operations over the course of the past few decades, manufacturing both metal and plastic components. As the company states: &ldquo;In the last few decades, Ford has printed well over 500,000 parts and saved billions of dollars and millions of hours of work. Where it would have taken 4-5 months and cost $500,000 to produce a prototype with traditional methods, a 3D printed part can be produced in a matter of days or hours at a cost of a few thousand dollars&rdquo;.Similarly, Ford&rsquo;s various subsidiaries have been showing off their AM chops, most notably the design teams behind the Shelby GT500. This year, they 3D printed the most promising designs for the new GT500 in a matter of days, which sped up the improvement and testing stages immensely. This pace allows them to rapidly tweak the Shelby GT500 little by little, bringing in new physical designs at breakneck speeds. They also developed a new spoiler-wing hybrid design that the team is calling &lsquo;the swing&rsquo;. This new design is a prominent factor in the GT500&rsquo;s impressive aerodynamic capabilities.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577987952613-engine-prototype.jpg">EcoBoost EngineThe company set another major 3D printing milestone back in February. Their Ford Performance division, dealing with high-performance components, 3D printed what they claim is the largest metal automotive part for a working vehicle in automotive history. The metal part was installed in the Hoonitruck, a 1977 Ford F-150 with a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 EcoBoost engine. The part itself is an aluminium manifold inlet, printed using GE Additive&rsquo;s Concept Laser X LINE 2000R.<h1>Volvo<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577987985331-volvo.jpg" style="width: 1114px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></h1>While not the most prominent user of automotive 3D printing, Volvo has been making great strides on this front in recent years. Much like a lot of the other companies on this list, Volvo has been using 3D printing for tooling and supply chain management. The use of 3D printing has particularly been useful in restocking the company&rsquo;s machines with new prints for out of production parts. Volvo is mostly using 3D printed plastic parts and is looking towards the implementation of metal ones in the near future.As of 2018, the company was using additive manufacturing primarily for prototyping and tooling. &ldquo;As we only need to produce low volumes of parts for prototyping, it&rsquo;s a good way to see what works,&rdquo; says Fredrick Andersson, Development Engineer for Wheel Loaders Powertrain Installation at Volvo CE [construction equipment]. &ldquo;We have a lot of knowledge and we can make changes quickly and easily with 3D printing. And because of this, it means that the time to market for a new product is quicker, so it&rsquo;s of great benefit to our company.&rdquo;The increased speed of prototyping has been massively helpful to the company, as various new tech they were testing proves. For example, Volvo engineers designed new water pump housings for the company&rsquo;s A25G and A30G vehicles. They ran simulations as a means of optimizing the design of internal flow passages in the housing, but needed to build a prototype to perform functional testing to validate the new design. The tooling cost for this project would have been approximately $9,090, with the part cost around $909. The lead time for producing the prototype would have been 20 weeks minimum. On the other hand, 3D printing the prototype cost $770 and took only two weeks.However, in 2019 the company upped the ante in terms of its AM processes, particularly with its Volvo Trucks branch. Their New River Valley (NRV) plant in Dublin, Virginia made quite a few headlines this year among the manufacturing world. They primarily use SLS but have also dabbled in other AM methods. This particular facility produces over 500 manufacturing tools and fixtures in use on the shop floor produced using 3D printing. The facility is also a major hub for North American automotive engineering.Aside from commercial automobiles, the company also develops construction equipment. Sure enough, 3D printing has also made its mark on this aspect of the company&rsquo;s operations. Volvo applied 3D printing in re-tooling their articulated haul trucks, and thus cutting down the cost of prototyping by a tenth. This also allowed them to reduce the time spent from 20 to merely 2 weeks.<h1>GM<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577988029323-GMC.jpg" style="width: 1106px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></h1>General Motors, and its various other branches, are major users (and developers) of 3D printing technology. As of 2018, GM was saving $300,000 a year on tooling and is making sufficient advances towards the development of new technologies using alternative fuel sources. The leading automaker&nbsp;announced last year it plans to launch 20 new electric and fuel cell models globally by the year 2023.Although their 3D printing operations have largely been about prototyping, they are expanding. The company further plans to scale up their printing operations to produce &ldquo;tens of thousands of parts at scale as the technology improves,&rdquo; according to Kevin Quinn, director of additive design and manufacturing at GM. This plan is likely to unfold over the next 5 years.The company&rsquo;s Warren Tech Center produces roughly 30,000 prototype parts each year. The parts consist of at least nine sorts of materials, employing combinations of plastics and metal and powders. They are primarily used for prototyping but the company is also looking at end-use parts. They also co-own HRL laboratories with Boeing, who ended producing a 3D printed Aluminum alloy.Dan Grieshaber, GM&rsquo;s director of global manufacturing integration, stated the majority of GM&rsquo;s factories have 3D printers now. The company plans to increase it even further, at least within their North American factories. The move is likely to save GM millions of dollars in production costs annually. GM has long been an investor in 3D printing and it&rsquo;s various sub-branch technologies. They are applying it for the rapid building of tools and accessories for workers in their plants. Just this year, the company stated that the implementation of a $35,000 3D printing machine has saved the company $300,000 over two years. While tooling production is the primary role that the printer plays, it may be possible that the company will increase the role of additive manufacturing in their daily operations.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577988053340-Bracket-Prototype-1024x683.jpg" style="width: 1109px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Their partnership with Autodesk has been beneficial in manufacturing lightweight 3D printed parts that could help the automaker meet its goals to add alternative-fuel vehicles to its product lineup. Also part of this same collaboration, in 2019 both companies showed off 3D-printed seat bracket made of stainless steel and developed with the Autodesk technology.Early in 2019, GM was looking at a novel new design application for 3D printing. In collaboration with Michellin, they were looking to produce a new type of tyre with superior durability. The Uptis tire is still a work in progress but the companies have moved on to the testing phase. They claim the tires would be 100 percent sustainable, resistant and able to last even longer. They are also a much greener alternative, with less waste during production. Recently, engineers were using a fleet of Chevrolet Bolt EVs to test the new tires in Michigan, and have floated the possibility of making them available to the public in 2024.<h1>Porsche</h1><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577988098320-Porsche-1024x576.jpg" style="width: 1108px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Porsche has been using 3D printing for a range of different purposes, from major components to reinventing the supply chain for their older models. Porsche is currently using 3D printing to produce very specific spare parts, but not that extensively. This is due to the stringent quality standards they need to conduct to ensure the safety is up to scratch. The company also works with a lower overall number of units produced as they are more of classic and luxury car brand.For the development of out of production components such as the release lever for the clutch on the Porsche 959, the company employs laser melting. They make use of powdered tool steel and get the part out far more efficiently than it would be otherwise possible with alternative methods.The use of 3D printing has also allowed the company to move towards on-demand printing, allowing for far lower costs associated with materials, transportation and storage. This is also beneficial as these parts are not in greater demand and are often expensive to keep in constant production. Porsche has most famously been working with Markfordged on reviving these classic parts.Mainly, they use SLM and SLS for the various parts they need to produce. Porsche has stated that the 3D printed parts are superior to the older ones in many cases. While they are printing a limited number of parts currently, they have been expanding the portfolio since 2018 and testing future components.If you have questions, or feedback, feel free to leave them below in the comments.<hr>Sponsored contentThis article was created in partnership with 3ERP. If you are interested in sharing sponsored content on the Wevolver platform email us at richard [at] wevolver.com. Wevolver reaches more than 6 million young, professional engineers and engineering students every month. To learn more visit our &quot;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/marketing-solutions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marketing Solutions</a>&quot; page.

This article aims to provide insight into the many ways some of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the world use 3D printing in their workflow.

How 5 Major Automobile Manufacturers Use 3D Printing

The heart-on-a-chip is entirely 3D printed with built-in sensors that measure the contractile strength of the tissue, providing scientists with new possibilities for studying the musculature of the heart 

Technique paves the way for more complex, customizable devices

3D-printed heart-on-a-chip with integrated sensors

Nature has produced exquisite composite materials&mdash;wood, bone, teeth, and shells, for example&mdash;that combine light weight and density with desirable mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength and damage tolerance.Since ancient civilizations first combined straw and mud to form bricks, people have fabricated engineered composites of increasing performance and complexity. But reproducing the exceptional mechanical properties and complex microstructures found in nature has been challenging.Now, a team of researchers at the&nbsp;<a href="http://seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> (SEAS) has demonstrated a novel 3D printing method that yields unprecedented control of the arrangement of short fibers embedded in polymer matrices. They used this additive manufacturing technique to program fiber orientation within epoxy composites in specified locations, enabling the creation of structural materials that are optimized for strength, stiffness, and damage tolerance.Their method, referred to as &ldquo;rotational 3D printing,&rdquo; could have broad ranging applications. Given the modular nature of their ink designs, many different filler and matrix combinations can be implemented to tailor electrical, optical, or thermal properties of the printed objects.&ldquo;Being able to locally control fiber orientation within engineered composites has been a grand challenge,&rdquo; said the study&rsquo;s senior author, <a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/jalewis" target="_blank">Jennifer A. Lewis</a>, Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard SEAS. &ldquo;We can now pattern materials in a hierarchical manner, akin to the way that nature builds.&rdquo; Lewis is also a Core Faculty Member of the <a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.</a><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1569469293043-LewisNozzle.gif" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The work, described in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pnas.org/" target="_blank">PNAS</a>, was carried out in the Lewis lab at Harvard. Collaborators included then-postdoctoral fellows Brett Compton (now Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville), and Jordan Raney (now Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania); and visiting PhD student Jochen Mueller from Prof. Kristina Shea&rsquo;s lab at ETH Zurich.&nbsp;&ldquo;Rotational 3D printing can be used to achieve optimal, or near optimal, fiber arrangements at every location in the printed part, resulting in higher strength and stiffness with less material,&rdquo; Compton said. &ldquo;Rather than using magnetic or electric fields to orient fibers, we control the flow of the viscous ink itself to impart the desired fiber orientation.&rdquo;Compton noted that the team&rsquo;s nozzle concept could be used on any material extrusion printing method, from fused filament fabrication, to direct ink writing, to large-scale thermoplastic additive manufacturing, and with any filler material, from carbon and glass fibers to metallic or ceramic whiskers and platelets.The technique allows for the 3D printing of engineered materials that can be spatially programmed to achieve specific performance goals. For example, the orientation of the fibers can be locally optimized to increase the damage tolerance at locations that would be expected to undergo the highest stress during loading, hardening potential failure points.&ldquo;One of the exciting things about this work is that it offers a new avenue to produce complex microstructures, and to controllably vary the microstructure from region to region,&rdquo; Raney said. &ldquo;More control over structure means more control over the resulting properties, which vastly expands the design space that can be exploited to optimize properties further.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;Biological composite materials often have remarkable mechanical properties: high stiffness and strength per unit weight and high toughness. One of the outstanding challenges of designing engineering materials inspired by biological composites is control of fiber orientation at small length scales and at the local level,&rdquo; said Lorna J. Gibson, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, who was not involved in the research. &ldquo;This remarkable paper from the Lewis group demonstrates a way of doing just that. This represents a huge leap forward in the design of bio-inspired composites.&quot;The <a href="http://otd.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard Office of Technology Development</a> has protected the intellectual property relating to this project.Previously, Lewis has conducted groundbreaking research in the 3D printing of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2014/02/essential-step-toward-printing-living-tissues" target="_blank">tissue constructs with vasculature</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2013/06/printing-tiny-batteries" target="_blank">lithium-ion microbatteries</a>,&nbsp;and the first&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2016/08/first-autonomous-entirely-soft-robot" target="_blank">autonomous, entirely soft robot</a>.

A novel 3D printing method, called “rotational 3D printing,” yields unprecedented control of the arrangement of short fibers embedded in polymer matrices. Researchers used additive manufacturing technique to program fiber orientation within epoxy composites in specified locations, enabling the creation of structural materials that are optimized for strength, stiffness, and damage tolerance. (Video courtesy of the Lewis Lab/Harvard SEAS)

multi material 3d printing

Latest Posts