Heck, Why Don't We Just Print the Whole Plane?

Printing Parts

3-D printers can make complex shapes that can't be manufactured with conventional techniques. Until recently, however, they couldn't print strong, durable objects. The machine Turner is using can make intricate forms out of high-grade metal, an advance that has allowed researchers to apply the design possibilities of 3-D printing to mechanical parts.

3D printing has come a long way! They are now able to print parts out of metallic powder, and pieces are stronger than conventional methods of manufacture because the parts can be printed with intricate load-bearing points. This also makes them lighter and cheaper to make. Technology...I love it!

/TOA

So... Can these make money?

Saw this and thought of you x

I want one. I want the pastic printer also.
I could make so many things if I had one of each.

reply to post by trollz


Yes If you Print out replacement parts for farmers you could make a lot of money.

reply to post by The Old American


I ran for my life, but missed the train...walked the road, but there were no automobiles... and for the life of me, I cannot find reference to a plane, but I hate the idea of the TSA anyway...

Yeah 3D printers are def. coming a long way, a few months ago there was a thread about a push bike, completely made from a 3D printer, working, moving parts, wheels and all (not tyres I think, but rims).

Ahhh hell, look what toys we have these days, that 100 years ago would have been impossible, 50 years ago a dream, 25 years ago the size of a fridge and today in the palm of your hand.

We'll have 3D printers in newly made houses next to the ice maker and instant hot water system...

Haha think about how far and fast its changing... mobile phones that fit in the palm of your hand, with more power than a desktop PC 20 years ago.

Originally posted by jonco6
reply to post by trollz

 

Yes If you Print out replacement parts for farmers you could make a lot of money.

Hahahahaha

Farmer Wants a Wife..

Oops... the arm fell off!!

Originally posted by Ha`la`tha
reply to post by The Old American

 

I ran for my life, but missed the train...walked the road, but there were no automobiles... and for the life of me, I cannot find reference to a plane, but I hate the idea of the TSA anyway...

The picture at the top of the page are Airbus380 engine parts:

Before and after: Two versions of a hinge for a jet-engine cover illustrate the capabilities of 3-D printing. The one in the background is made with conventional manufacturing methods. The printed shape in the foreground weighs half as much.

/TOA

Originally posted by The Old American

Originally posted by Ha`la`tha
reply to post by The Old American

 

I ran for my life, but missed the train...walked the road, but there were no automobiles... and for the life of me, I cannot find reference to a plane, but I hate the idea of the TSA anyway...

The picture at the top of the page are Airbus380 engine parts:

Before and after: Two versions of a hinge for a jet-engine cover illustrate the capabilities of 3-D printing. The one in the background is made with conventional manufacturing methods. The printed shape in the foreground weighs half as much.

/TOA

Haha Oh sorry mate, I obviously need to wash my eyes a little

Been a long day .. been beer o'clock for half an hour now!!

these technologies should have full funding.we could use them to create food.in another hundred years robots will be doing most of the labor.then how will we spend our time?laying around getting fat?unless we all can explore outerspace.what will we strive for?we now have chips as powerful as the brain and ibm watson.we are at a threshhold moment for mankind.

Good stuff!!

Looking at the printed hinge, I fear "metal fatigue" !

If there are vibrations, where that hinge is used, I am quite sure
that the three "fingers" on the left of the hinge will break !

6 screws against 3 fingers ?? Hmmmmmm. . .

Blue skies.

reply to post by The Old American


They don't all use powder. Some use sheets of aluminum, and bind them together using ultrasonic energy. This process allows them to build finished parts that withstand tolerances that -- in many cases -- exceed those of traditionally machined parts. There is virtually no limit to the alloys that can be used in this process -- including Titanium.

Why not build entire airplanes? Well -- printer sizes are still fairly small, but this will likely change over the next decade or so....

reply to post by Ha`la`tha


Great post, but you should amend the last line.

"....with 1000 times more "power" (processing units and memory) then a desktop machine from the 80's."

Today's "do it all mobile phones" will be reduced in size and until they can be implanted under the skin, with a "heads up display" in the upper corner of the eyes, within 10-15 years.

There is some speculation that this is exactly the method (only in it's infancy today) of how 'seamless UFO' bodies are created.

A similar although most probably much more evolved version of this technology would explain often reported quotes from UFO witnesses of things like: "It has a totally seamless, and smooth appearance.." and "It had no rivets, or any joints in the hull that i could observe.." etc.

The openings, and of course closures would give some clue to how far along this process might be with regards to UFO's (or indeed clandestine military craft)..the 'printer' or whatever analogue is used to create the hull of a space craft, would be situated around the area of the intended opening...when the door was opened, a corrosive or disrupting array would 'dissolve' the opening, when the door was closed, the 'printer' simply and instantly prints a new one.

No seams...or rivets.

reply to post by robomont


If the technology is refined further and taken to it's absolute conceptual limits, i see no reason why 'molecular assemblers' cannot become a reality.

Instead of 'printing' metals layer by layer, molecules would be sprayed (incorporated) according to a specific template instead.

Since 'food' you, me, this computer i'm using to type this post is made from molecules arranged in a specific pattern or template, it's absolutely conceivable that 'food replication' (sorry, i had to say it!) could be possible.

More interesting than that though, would be using the molecules and proteins from a human body (and the patients own stem cells) and printing body parts to exact specifications for the intended patient, would mean we could literally print organs, limbs, nerves and just about anything else that would be required for transplant.

The surgery to re-attach severed limbs, or spinal cord injuries could even be completed not with a scalpel, but using an upgraded version of printing, layer by layer, microscopic amounts of material, building up musculature, skeleton, complete with connected blood vessels and nerves, and attach these to the patient directly as the 'part' is being printed.

There really is no limit to what could be built or achieved with an advanced form of this technology...or how large something could be scaled to. The only limits are our imagination and will to make investment into developing the technology.

My university had one or two of these, only they made stuff out of plastic. They work well, but if you want something detailed, it takes a long time to make even a small object; people routinely would leave it to run over the weekend making a single piece. Thus, it would be extremely expensive to mass produce anything using this technology. It's fantastic for prototypes or stuff you don't need in quantity, though. I'd imagine that for certain specialized plane parts, this would be great, but it would be uneconomical to make, say, rivets or nails with this. (but you could if you really wanted)