(Press-News.org) Contact information: Megan Hazle
hazle@usc.edu
213-821-1887
University of Southern California
USC Viterbi engineers cut time to 3D-print heterogeneous objects from hours to minutes
New 3D printing process speeds up fabrication of multiple-material objects
Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a faster 3D printing process and are now using it to model and fabricate heterogeneous objects, which comprise multiple materials.
Although 3D printing – or direct digital manufacturing – has the potential to revolutionize various industries by providing faster, cheaper and more accurate manufacturing options, fabrication time and the complexity of multi-material objects have long been a hurdle to its widespread use in the marketplace. With this newly developed 3D printing process, however, USC Viterbi professor Yong Chen and his team have shaved the fabrication time down to minutes, bringing the manufacturing world one step closer to achieving its goal.
"Digital material design and fabrication enables controlled material distributions of multiple base materials in a product component for significantly improved design performance. Such fabrication capability opens up exciting new options that were previously impossible," said Yong Chen, Ph.D., professor in the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the study's lead researcher.
Traditional modeling and prototyping approaches used to take days, but over the past several decades various additive manufacturing (AM) processes have been developed to fabricate both homogeneous and heterogeneous objects more quickly. Currently, AM processes such as multi-jet modeling, which create a solid 3D object from a digital model by laying down successive layers of material, can fabricate a complex object in a matter of hours.
Last year, Chen and another team of USC Viterbi researchers improved an AM-related process called mask-image-projection-based stereolithography (MIP-SL) to drastically speed up the fabrication of homogeneous 3D objects. In the MIP-SL process, a 3D digital model of an object is sliced by a set of horizontal planes and each slice is converted into a two-dimensional mask image. The mask image is then projected onto a photocurable liquid resin surface and light is projected onto the resin to cure it in the shape of the related layer.
VIDEO:
Dr. Yong Chen, industrial systems and engineering professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, discusses the 3D printing technique demonstrated in his latest paper. Digital enabled printing allows for...
Click here for more information.
Furthermore, the USC Viterbi team developed a two-way movement design for bottom-up projection so that the resin could be quickly spread into uniform thin layers. As a result, production time was cut from hours to a few minutes. In their latest paper, the team successfully applies this more efficient process to the fabrication of heterogeneous objects that comprise different materials that cure at different rates. This new 3D printing process will allow heterogeneous prototypes and objects such as dental and robotics models to be fabricated more cost- and time-efficiently than ever before.
In future work, Chen and his team will investigate how to develop an automatic design approach for heterogeneous material distribution according to user-specified physical properties and how to improve the fabrication speed.
Chen and USC Viterbi industrial and systems engineering doctoral candidates students Pu Huang and Dongping Deng are presenting their findings at ASME's 2013 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in San Diego on November 20th.
INFORMATION:
The study was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (grants CMMI-1151191 and CMMI-0927397).
VIDEO - 3D Printing Multi-Material Objects Faster: https://vimeo.com/79412743
About the USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Engineering Studies began at the University of Southern California in 1905. Nearly a century later, the Viterbi School of Engineering received a naming gift in 2004 from alumnus Andrew J. Viterbi, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm now key to cell phone technology and numerous data applications. Consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in the world, the school enrolls more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students, taught by 177 tenured and tenure-track faculty, with 60 endowed chairs and professorships. http://viterbi.usc.edu
USC Viterbi engineers cut time to 3D-print heterogeneous objects from hours to minutes
New 3D printing process speeds up fabrication of multiple-material objects
2013-11-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Focusing on faces
2013-11-20
Focusing on faces
Researchers find neurons in amygdala of autistic individuals have reduced sensitivity to eye region of others' faces
Difficulties in social interaction are considered to be one of the behavioral hallmarks of autism spectrum ...
Spanish scientists identify a new ancestral enzyme that facilitates DNA repair
2013-11-20
Spanish scientists identify a new ancestral enzyme that facilitates DNA repair
PrimPol allows cells to make copies of their DNA even when it is damaged, and prevents breaks in the chromosomes
Every day, the human body produces new cells to regenerate ...
Scientists create perfect solution to iron out kinks in surfaces
2013-11-20
Scientists create perfect solution to iron out kinks in surfaces
A new technique that allows curved surfaces to appear flat to electromagnetic waves has been developed by scientists at Queen Mary University of London.
The discovery could hail ...
Novel material stores unusually large amounts of hydrogen
2013-11-20
Novel material stores unusually large amounts of hydrogen
X-ray study reveals the formation of iridium trihydride at high pressure
This news release is available in German. An international team of researchers has synthesized a new material ...
Services fail to treat prisoners with schizophrenia -- increasing risk of violent reoffending
2013-11-20
Services fail to treat prisoners with schizophrenia -- increasing risk of violent reoffending
New research from Queen Mary University of London shows released prisoners with schizophrenia are three times more likely to be violent than other prisoners, ...
Study reveals higher levels of control and support at work increases wellbeing
2013-11-20
Study reveals higher levels of control and support at work increases wellbeing
Research from Queen Mary University of London reveals positive aspects of working life – such as high levels of control at work, good support from supervisors and colleagues, ...
The closest relatives of papaya are 4 species from Mexico and Guatemala
2013-11-20
The closest relatives of papaya are 4 species from Mexico and Guatemala
For many decades, researchers thought the closest relatives of papaya were certain trees from the Andes, the so-called highland papayas. A study employing DNA sequences from all species of the papaya ...
3 new wafer trapdoor spiders from Brazil
2013-11-20
3 new wafer trapdoor spiders from Brazil
Scientists discover three new gorgeous species of the wafer trapdoor genus Fufius – F. minusculus, F. jalapensis, and F. candango. The discovery of the three new species, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, paves the road ...
X-class solar flare: Nov. 19
2013-11-20
X-class solar flare: Nov. 19
Adding on to a series of solar flares throughout October and November, the sun emitted another significant solar flare on Nov. 19, 2013, peaking at 5:26 a.m. EST. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from ...
Predicting human body height from DNA
2013-11-20
Predicting human body height from DNA
New study shows that predicting a person's tall stature from DNA is feasible
Predicting adult body height from genetic data is helpful in several areas such as pediatric endocrinology and forensic investigations. However, despite ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?
Pink skies
Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research
Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered
% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?
An app can change how you see yourself at work
NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals
New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China
Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds
Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea
New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea
Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes
Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others
Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke
Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition
Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life
Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy
Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming
Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly
Alcohol makes male flies sexy
TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income
Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression
Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring
Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs
AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders
First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes
Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows
Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission
UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages
In pancreatic cancer, a race against time
[Press-News.org] USC Viterbi engineers cut time to 3D-print heterogeneous objects from hours to minutesNew 3D printing process speeds up fabrication of multiple-material objects