I-Corps: Rapid 3D printing in gel suspension

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种能够在悬浮环境中高速打印复杂几何形状的3D打印机技术。该打印技术使用凝胶悬浮浴直接在3D空间中写入。凝胶提供了一个零重力环境，消除了对支撑材料的需求，并允许打印高度复杂的悬垂几何形状，具有高质量的表面处理。凝胶浴是一种无毒的水基配方。打印出来的物体一旦打印出来就可以简单地洗掉，不需要后处理。这种凝胶可以无限重复使用。该团队认为，汽车、航空、家具、儿童产品和医疗行业可以在近期内将打印能力整合到他们的制造过程中。这个I-Corps项目是基于一项技术的开发，该技术使高速3D打印机技术能够无限规模地打印完全刚性和柔性的工业级材料。目前，3D打印机受限于材料质量差、体积小、速度慢；因此，目前的3D打印机通常只用作原型制作工具。该项目可以改进和提供复杂几何形状、铸造和成型的新制造技术。这种新的制造方法可以大大降低成型零件的生产成本，同时提高机器效率。该项目允许大规模定制，同时简化传统制造流程，有可能扩大3D打印市场。该团队将同时整合现有的材料供应链，并与公司合作寻找新产品和市场。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to develop a 3D printer technology capable of printing complex geometries in a suspended environment at high speed. The printing technology directly writes in 3D space using a gel suspension bath. The gel provides a zero-gravity environment, eliminating the need for support material and allows for the printing of highly complex overhanging geometries with high-quality surface finishes. The gel bath is a non-toxic, water-based formulation. Printed objects are simply washed off once printed, requiring no post-processing. The gel can be reused indefinitely. The team believes the automotive, aviation, furniture, children’s product and medical industries could integrate the printing capabilities in their manufacturing process near term. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology that enables access to a high-speed 3D printer technology capable of printing fully rigid and flexible industrial grade materials at infinite scale. Currently, 3D printers are limited by poor material quality, small build volume, and slow speed; hence current 3D printers are generally only used as prototyping tools. This project may improve and provide new manufacturing techniques for complex geometries, casting, and molding. This new way of manufacturing may drastically reduce production cost for molded parts, while increasing machine efficiency. The project has the potential to expand the 3D printing market by allowing for mass customization while streamlining traditional manufacturing processes. The team will simultaneously integrate with existing material supply chains and work with companies to locate new products and markets.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.