Whether you think 3D printing is a fun curiosity or the next Industrial Revolution, you probably mainly think about what you can do with it. What kind of toys, parts, doodads, or other personalized items could I make with a 3D printer. Far less people take the time to actually consider the processes that make 3D printing, a.k.a. additive manufacturing, possible.
The technology has existed for a long time, except it’s mostly been in the hands of a large companies until recently because the printers were so expensive. But whether you’re talking industrial scale or something like a Makerbot, you’re pretty much just putting down layers of material one by one.
In most cases this means melting and then cooling a plastic filament. Fancier printers use lasers to cure liquid resins. Either way, you’re still just layering some kind of material.
However, some chemistry researchers from UNC Chapel Hill have created a startup called Carbon3D, and they’re turning that normal printing concepts upside down. Both figuratively, and literally. Their design is resin-based like some, but it requires light and oxygen to solidify. They shine the light through an oxygen permeable window and can control the presence of both. Allowing them to pull the solid object, phoenix-like from a puddle of liquid goo.
The video they show is at seven times normal speed, but you have to understand that it still roughly 7 minutes for an extremely intricate object. It also has extremely high three-dimensional resolution. Able to have details roughly 20 microns in size. That’s equivalent to about one quarter the width of a normal sheet of paper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpH1zhUQY0c
This new printing method has been dubbed Continuous Liquid Interface Production, or CLIP for short. One of the advantages so far of CLIP is speed.
The creators estimate that their method could print many objects anywhere from between 25 and 100 times faster than conventional layer by layer printing. And just as additive manufacturing can create shapes that normal manufacturing can’t, so too can CLIP creates structures that even conventional 3D printers can’t. These will allow for the creation of stronger parts with unique three-dimensional geometries.
Right now the startup is mainly focused on the research aspects of this printer, working with other groups at UNC Chapel Hill. They believe that this kind of system could be compatible with a wide variety of materials including silicon, ceramics, and even biodegradable materials.
One of the most promising applications is related to medical implants and prosthetics. It’s conceivable that a patient could have some kind of medical part printed and tested within a single appointment, due to the speed of CLIP printing.
But with the purported versatility and benefits of this system, it’s only a matter of time before this revolutionary 3D printer has found its way into a wide variety of other applications. We can only hope that the hacker/hobbyist version of this 3D printer is developed some time in the next few years.
