In the rapidly developing field of 3D printing, there is an endless pursuit of faster, more efficient and more versatile production methods.
Although traditional 3D printing technology is groundbreaking, it usually takes a long time and has a limited number of materials that can be used as raw materials.
According to foreign media reports, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) research team has developed a new process, Microwave Volumetric Additive Manufacturing (MVAM), which introduces an innovative new method of 3D printing, using microwave energy to cure materials, opening the door to a wider range of materials than ever before.
Photo source: The journal “Additive Manufacturing Letters”, related papers have been published in the journal “Additive Manufacturing Letters”.
In the paper, LLNL researchers describe the potential of microwave energy to penetrate a wider range of materials compared to light-based volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM).
, Although VAM techniques such as computational axial lithography allow complex 3D shapes to be quickly printed in one operation and without the need for supporting structures, VAM relies on specific materials, mainly transparent and low-absorption resins, which limits the use of opaque or composite materials.
Researchers say microwaves can penetrate deeper into materials than projected light, making it ideal for curing a variety of resins, including those that are opaque or contain additives.
LLNL research scientist Saptarshi Mukherjee and laboratory materials chemist Johanna Schwartz co-led the paper.
Saptarshi Mukherjee said that this ability can significantly improve the versatility of 3D printing, allowing the manufacture of more complex, more powerful and larger parts.
“I think this will completely change the way people view additive manufacturing,” said Mukherjee, who specializes in applied electromagnetism.
“If we think about many applications-aerospace, automotive, nuclear industry-they have simple geometries, but they are large and require rapid prototyping.
A major impact of MVAM is that if we can keep the raw material surrounded by microwave antenna arrays, we can now consider using microwaves to create simple large geometries as well as complex large geometries on a large scale.
“, Paper co-author Maxim Shusteff said the ability to quickly produce large geometric parts could transform the additive manufacturing industry.
“Microwave bulk additive manufacturing opens up a new field of 3D printing, which enables the use of opaque and filler materials that were previously difficult to process.
This could be one way to make large parts with enhanced material properties.
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