Posted on 05/31/2014 3:15:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
China seems to be one of the nations who are establishing themselves at the forefront of 3D printing innovation. Last month, it was reported that China has begun 3D printing full sized homes, and now there is news of something that may be even more incredible.
After 3 1/2 years of research and development, Sanya Industrial Innovation Design Center, in Sanya, China, has developed a 3D printer that, according to the company, is the largest of its kind. It also touts the ability to print in multiple and extremely affordable materials, print at high speeds, and in full color. The printer, weighs an incredible 15 tons and measures 6 X 3.5 X 3.5 meters in size (19’8″ X 11’6″ X 11’6″). This huge 3D printer can print in full color, and in many different materials.
This new 3D printer is capable of printing objects as large as 3.8 × 2.4 × 1.8 meters (approximately 12’6″ X 7’10″ X 5’11″) in size.
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Chen Min Qiao (translated) of Sanya Industrial Innovation Design Center, explained that these 3D printers are capable of printing large objects such as cars, boats, etc. By looking at the measurements of the build envelope, without a doubt it could print objects this size. Ming Qiao also explained that this new printer will have great benefits for a variety of applications including tourism, culture, exhibition models, scientific research, souvenirs, art furniture, garden rockery, home accessories and much more.
While it is not completely clear exactly what kind of technology drives this machine, from an outsiders point of view, it appears to work similarly to a traditional fused desposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. Mr. Long Sihai, who is the General Manager of Sanya Industrial Innovation Design Center says that it can print using resins, metals, and other materials. As long as the material has a melting point below sanya7450℃, it should work. So this would seems to differ from what we are used to seeing from traditional FDM printers, which normally can only print with rolls or sticks of solid material ‘filament’.
3D printer filament can be quite pricy, thus printing objects the size of an SUV probably wouldn’t be all that feasible, using traditional FDM technology. That is exactly where this new 3D printer hopes to make progress.
“You can print using a melting point below 450 degrees celsius, with materials in powder format as well as granular goods,” explained Deng Zhenhai (representative for Sanya Industrial Innovation Design Center) to reporters, prior to being translated to English.sanya3
He also explained that this new technology allows them to break the ‘bottleneck’ of traditional 3D printing materials (spools of filament), and that this will greatly reduce the costs of materials used to print objects, thus allowing 3D printing to spread to more people. Materials for this printer are expected to be as low as 10 Yuan per KG ($1.60/KG) which is about 30 times cheaper than current polymer based 3D printer filament.
As for print speed, it can print approximately 12 centimeters in height per hour, for hallow objects with a diameter of a little less than 1 meter. This is quite impressive, when compared to traditional FDM technlogy.
Zhenhai also explained that this is the first large scale 3D color printer. There are currenlty 3D printers that can print in a variety of colors, but they are all of the smaller variety.
These new 3D printers will begin selling next month, and will be priced in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. What do you think? Is this new innovation in China going to help 3D printing progress on a larger and more massive scale? Discuss these new 3D printers in the ‘New Chinese 3D Printer’ discussion thread on 3DPB.com.
We sure did, son ... it was an unbelievable experience
Did you pick up any souvenirs for us ?
Yep ... here's a house, boat and trailer for you and Mary and the baby .... and here's a new car for your sister Patty
What'd you get for yourselves ?
We decided we liked the vacation so much, we brought back a full sized replica of Hong Kong, complete with millions of little people and smog
Way cool, Dad
Maybe these new 3D printers could print us a different president, the current one needs replacing.
Isn’t it a shame that this appears first in China instead of the United States? I guess there is too much bureaucratic red tape and permits and regulations and fees for some of our bright engineers to do it here. Pathetic.
I posted this same comment on a similar thread. It torques my jaws to see China outdoing us in this field. I guess our universities are more interested in turning out liberal studies degree students rather than engineers.
Go to the other thread right under this one. There is a video of the thing in action.
It’s not about major, it’s about career. If we want more mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, industrial engineers and materials scientists, we need for those fields to pay as well as electrical engineering, petroleum engineering, finance, and consulting. People follow the money.
So much for those who claimed China taking all our manufacturing doesn’t matter because they can’t innovate.
Innovation follows the manufacturing processes. We are losing our ability to innovate.
In ten years this idea will be dead, and direct, 3D deposition will be used. It will be like the difference between videotape and DVR. Why should I wait for it to deposit material sequentially, one molecule at a time.
“Innovation follows the manufacturing processes.”
How few people realize this
we still innovate and better than them.
Their 3D printer is an attention getter for it’s size, but there is nothing new about the design. They are copying our innovations only on a larger scale.
The place to innovate is different types of extrusion and deposition - that’s just for openers. I’m not giving the away the shop...
When I hear that 3D printing is possible in the vacuum of space, I might think it was amazing.
3D printable materials (plastic) that will cure in a vacuum? There must be some special properties going to work on that. The 3D printing process I’m familiar with includes periodic exposure to UV light in curing the printed material. Removal of support material is done by pressure washing in an enclosed space.
i’m printing a 3d part this weekend, fabricated and post-processed the same way ... 31 hours duration ...
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