DISCOVERY ARTICLES
By combining several additive
manufacturing technologies into a
single desktop unit, researchers have
created a new way to manufacture
complex, multi-material products.
The device, known as the
Dream Machine, was based on an
undergraduate senior design project,
which aimed to revolutionize 3-D
printing by allowing users to print
multiple materials in a single build
using multiple types of deposition
tools.
The machine advances additive
manufacturing (AM) by tackling the
lack of integration among multiple
technologies.
“There are many ways to print things,
but at the end of the day we’re still
stacking layers to create an item,” said
Danny Rau, a mechanical engineering
graduate student. “Bringing all these
AM technologies into a single system
is a novel concept,” Rau said.
“WE’RE THE
PIONEERS
OF THIS
TECHNOLOGY,
AND THAT
FEELS
PRETTY GOOD
TO SAY”
The AM technologies the team
worked with for their product were
filament extrusion, paste extrusion,
vat photopolymerization, and binder
jetting.
Despite the ability to simultaneously
print with multiple technologies, not
all formats work with each other. For
instance, binder jetting only works in
conjunction with paste and filament
extrusion. However, most formats
work with a majority of the other print
types; for example, the machine can use
paste extrusion to selectively deposit
conductive ink into a high temperature
epoxy part that is printed using vat
photopolymerization.
The Dream Machine also features a
method of modular construction that
will allow it to continue to grow.
“The machine is more than just the
print heads,” said Grady Wagner, a 2017
mechanical engineering graduate who
now works at Space-X as an additive
manufacturing engineer.
“The build plate is also important.
For instance, for light-based printing,
the build plate can’t be reflective, but
for plastic based materials, it needs to
be heated. We’ve developed a modular
platform where the user can change the
size of the build plates, which allows
for printing large parts and enabling
researchers to work with small batches
of experimental materials. In addition,
the modular nature of the printer
allows new print technologies to be
incorporated as they become available.”
“We’re the pioneers of this
technology, and that feels pretty good
to say,” Rau said.
In addition to Rau and Wagner, the
Dream Machine team includes graduate
student Lindsey Bass, Mitchell Wolf
and David Wolf who work for Northrup
Grumman, and Scott Ziv, with the Naval
Sea Systems Command. The team has
filed a provisional patent for the device.
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