[Magnetonium]

The future is almost here. This is pretty neat, next step into our technological innovation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24528306

The European Space Agency has unveiled plans to "take 3D printing into the metal age" by building parts for jets, spacecraft and fusion projects.

The Amaze project brings together 28 institutions to develop new metal components which are lighter, stronger and cheaper than conventional parts.

Additive manufacturing (or "3D printing") has already revolutionised the design of plastic products.

Printing metal parts for rockets and planes would cut waste and save money.
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We need to clean up our act - the space industry needs to be more green. And this technique will help us”

Franco Ongaro Esa

The layered method of assembly also allows intricate designs - geometries which are impossible to achieve with conventional metal casting.

Parts for cars and satellites can be optimised to be lighter and - simultaneously - incredibly robust.

Tungsten alloy components that can withstand temperatures of 3,000C were unveiled at Amaze's launch on Tuesday at London Science Museum.

At such extreme temperatures they can survive inside nuclear fusion reactors and on the nozzles of rockets.

"We want to build the best quality metal products ever made. Objects you can't possibly manufacture any other way," said David Jarvis, Esa's head of new materials and energy research.
Infographic explaining additive layer manufacturing or 3D printing

Computer-aided design software determines shape of 3D model using cross-sections
Laser etches the shape of cross-section into metal powder and heats it so it solidifies and creates a solid layer
More powder is spread to create the next layer and so on until the 3D object is created
By leaving one non-solid layer in between, interlocking structures can be created

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"To build a [fusion reactor], like Iter, you somehow have to take the heat of the Sun and put it in a metal box.

"3,000C is as hot as you can imagine for engineering.

"If we can get 3D metal printing to work, we are well on the way to commercial nuclear fusion."

Amaze is a loose acronym for Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste and Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products.

The 20m-euro project brings together 28 partners from European industry and academia - including Airbus, Astrium, Norsk Titanium, Cranfield University, EADS, and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

Factory sites are being set up in France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK to develop the industrial supply chain.
Airbus A320 nacelle hinge brackets Hinges for the Airbus A320 - conventional (background) and 3D printed (foreground)

Amaze researchers have already begun printing metal jet engine parts and aeroplane wing sections up to 2m in size.

These high-strength components are typically built from expensive, exotic metals such as titanium, tantalum and vanadium.

Using traditional casting techniques often wastes precious source material.

Additive manufacturing - building parts up layer-on-layer from 3D digital data - produces almost "zero waste".

"To produce one kilo of metal, you use one kilo of metal - not 20 kilos," says Esa's Franco Ongaro.

"We need to clean up our act - the space industry needs to be more green. And this technique will help us."

Printing objects as a single piece - without welding or bolting - can make them both stronger and lighter.

A weight reduction of even 1kg for a long range aircraft will save hundred of thousands of dollars over its lifespan.


"Our ultimate aim is to print a satellite in a single piece. One chunk of metal, that doesn't need to be welded or bolted," said Jarvis.

"To do that would save 50% of the costs - millions of euros."

But Jarvis is candid about the problems and inefficiencies that still need to be overcome - what he calls the "dirty secrets" of 3D printing.

"One common problem is porosity - small air bubbles in the product. Rough surface finishing is an issue too," he said.

"We need to understand these defects and eliminate them - if we want to achieve industrial quality.

"And we need to make the process repeatable - scale it up.

"We can't do all this unless we collaborate between industries - space, fusion, aeronautics.

"We need all these teams working together and sharing."

[Technology]

Excellent. The kind of thing I like to hear about.

[U184]

That would be a fantastic thing. It would also allow for smaller operations to send over the plastic firsts and the cad info in proposals. It sure would make my life a lot easier.

[Figlio di Moros]

Interesting, certainly counters the notion of limited operations for 3D printers. It's one more reason to provide vouchers for household purchase of 3D printers; it'd revolutionize commerce.

[Varax]

Outstanding. 3D printing is still in its infancy - this is only the beginning. Really encouraged by what I'm seeing with the potential applications for nuclear fusion and better parts for aircraft and space development.

The next couple of decades are going to be exciting.

[Oxymoron]

Excellent news, the need for manual labor will soon be over. I am guessing some kind of population control is around the corner, get your Zombie survival kit ready.

[Magnetonium]

The only thing I find of concern, is the reliability of this cutting-edge technology. We all know that 2D printers are often shit and have short lifespan, will 3D printers face similar problems for decades to come? I am not a fan of buying a new printer every year or so, especially when a [3D] printer comes with a four-digit price tag.

[mikema63]

They will be able to print a new printer towards the end of their working life someday.

[onemalehuman]

They will be able to print a new printer towards the end of their working life someday.

Perpetual motion. It already exists currently. Everywhere you look it is right in front of your eyes, behind your eyes and the space between your ears and outside your skin. Same applies to everything else equally.

There is the single most important thing to remember here, space is already occupied with everything that is substance to existing now. There is nothing left to make anything else out of but the periodic table of elements making up everything here now universally.

Get into the real moment, PLEASE. This science fiction of space time and time changes details in space doesn't add up to everything here as it exists never duplicating what is taking place currently.

Rounding off whole numbers creates a holy spirit of something missing and nothing is other than what was imagined existing that never existed.

I too am fascinated by technological advances, but they(inventions) are contraptions made by conceived lifetimes. Conceptions arrive before conceptual agreements can continue. Inorganic existed before organisms came from the erosion of what existed prior to life in this moment alive of perpetual contracting forces expanding the details never duplicated presently here universally which makes up the space occupied and the space between objects and objectives.

Trying to solve problems before issues blind those believing time changes space linearly and literally by theory and theology creating the cause and effect that governs societal evolution. this is how all topics lead back to the same problems of social behavior regardless the narrative regardless the narrator.

Again, there needs to be raw materials to form objects molded from them. Cannot make steel using just ink and paper as the concept of a 3D printer brings to thought relative to printers used with computers.

What is being discussed here is relative to replicators in star trek fantasies of science fiction and future possibilities. The universe isn't ever expanding, it is self contained to this moment everywhere. Just nobody wants to accept that part of life passing through the moment supplying the energy that cannot be created or destroyed by what exists here now.

Yes, humans can transform inorganic matter into new things, but it is still using what exists within this natural balancing without the moment doing it by itself. Everything is linked to everything else because this moment is eternity eternally now to each compounding result of contracting forces inversely adding details never duplicated twice using the same self contained matter balancing as this universal moment. Call it God if you want, doesn't change the physical constant now is eternity if others call it Karma, Allah, Mother Nature, Father Time, Heaven, Hell, Science, or Spirituality using institutions of religion and politics to have separate views of the same instant playing against academia and economic principals educating symbolic values to each ancestor added to the atmosphere.

The Future is Now all the time.

[Kaiserschmarrn]

The biggest advantage or gain of this technology seems to be that a more complex design does not increase cost and production time, or by much less than for a normal manufacturing process. So complexity is (almost) free which is truly revolutionary.