Feb/March_AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 1 4 8 3D PRINTSHOP Magnets 3D printed fromNd-Fe-B powder. Courtesy of VTT. The morphing nozzle 3D prints fiber-filled composite materials with on-demand control of fiber alignment. Courtesy of University of Maryland. MORPHING NOZZLE LEADS TO ‘4D’ APPLICATIONS Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created a 3D- printing nozzle that changes shape, or “morphs,” enabling control of fiber ori- entation in composite materials. The nozzle offers researchers new means for 3D printing fiber-filled composites, materials made up of short fibers that boost special properties over tradition- al 3D-printed parts, such as enhancing part strength or electrical conductivity. The challenge is that these properties are based on the directions or orienta- tions of the short fibers, which has been difficult to control during the 3D print- ing process, until now. “When 3D printing with the mor- phing nozzle, the power lies on their side actuators, which can be inflated like a balloon to change the shape of the nozzle, and in turn, the orientations of the fibers,” says Ryan Sochol, an as- sistant professor in mechanical engi- neering and director of the Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory at UMD. To demonstrate the new ap- proach, researchers looked at emerging “4D printing” applications. “4D print- ing refers to the concept of 3D printing objects that can reshape or transform depending on their environment,” says UMD mechanical engineering professor David Bigio. “We looked at how printed parts swelled when submerged in wa- ter, and specifically, if we could alter that swelling behavior using our morph- ing nozzle.” The team is exploring the use of their strategy to realize biomedical ap- plications in which bulk printed objects could re- shape in the presence of particular stimuli from the body. They are also in discussions with several Department of Defense labora- tories to use the new morphing nozzle to support production of weapons for defense and other military systems. umd.edu. MAGNETS FOR MORE EFFICIENT ELECTRIC MOTORS A new material under develop- ment is suitable for 3D printing perma- nent magnets for electric and hybrid vehicle motors. A European consor- tium, 3DREMAG, led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, plans to de- velop a fully 3D printable electric motor, one that would be approximately 30% lighter than today’s motors. The Nd-Fe-B powder is the first permanent magnet material custom- ized for 3D printing. The material can be used to produce fully dense metal- lic and resource-efficient permanent magnets for electric and hybrid vehicle motors, electric bicycles, and consumer electronics, as well as for wind turbine generators. vttresearch.com/en. LOW-COST WEATHER MONITORING STATIONS PROVE ACCURATE An inexpensive monitoring sys- tem with 3D-printed parts and low-cost sensors can be just as accurate as com- mercial ones, researchers found. Adam K. Theisen, at Argonne National Labora- tory, led the project, which compared the printed station with a commer- cial-grade station for eight months. A team at the University of Okla- homa used open-source plans to print over 100 weather station parts. Instead of using polylactic acid, more common in 3D printing, they used acrylonitrile styrene acrylate, which is considered more durable outdoors. The low-cost sensors accurately measured tempera- ture, pressure, rain, UV, and relative humidity. With the exception of a cou- ple of instruments, the plastic material held up in the Oklahoma weather from mid-August 2018 to mid-April the fol- lowing year. The ability to print special- ized components could make weather stations more feasible in remote areas because replacement parts could be fabricated right away when needed. anl.gov. 3D-printed weather station installation in the field. Courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.