Volumes of production
Not applicable.
Unit price vs. capital investment
Not applicable.
Speed
Not applicable.
Surface
An excellent surface can be achieved, depending on the grain size of the ceramic powder.
Types/complexity of shape
Because of the enhanced “viscous-elastic behavior” of ceramics produced in this manner, components have high strength in their “green” state, which enables quite adventurous forms to be produced. The process also allows thinner wall sections to be produced than is the case with standard ceramic materials, which ultimately leads to higher strength parts with reduced weight.
Scale
It is possible to create large products, but not in all dimensions. VPP is, in other words, capable of producing long, extruded sections with wall thicknesses of up to ¼ inch, or thin sheets.
Tolerances
Not applicable.
Relevant materials
Any ceramic material.
Typical products
Flat components, substrates for electrical components, kiln furniture, springs, rods and tubes, strength in green-state cups, body armor, and biomedical applications.
Similar methods
Not applicable.
Sustainability issues
By enhancing the strength of the ceramic, thinner-walled parts can be produced to reduce material consumption and extend the lifespan of the product. This increased strength can also help to reduce possible defects during forming, which in turn helps to minimize waste of materials and additional processing. Any type of fabrication used to form the ceramic– polymer mixture requires extensive heat, which is energy intensive.
Further information
www.ceram.com
7: Advanced
Inkjet Printing
Paper-Based Rapid Prototyping
Contour Crafting
Stereolithography (SLA)
Electroforming for Micro-Molds
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
Smart MandrelsTM for Filament Winding
Incremental Sheet-Metal Forming
Advanced and new technologies
The starting point for most of the processes featured in this section is that the information used to make the shape is supplied by a CAD file. This eliminates tooling costs, as do Smart MandrelsTM, also featured in this section (though these are not driven by CAD), and together they all provide a complete mind shift from existing rules of production. On this basis, the methods in this section point the way to future industrial production and hint at the fact that these new technologies will provoke the biggest change in the nature of mass-produced objects since the Industrial Revolution. It is a group of processes that includes the relatively familiar process of stereolithography, but also has some new technologies that put manufacturing into the hands of the consumer.
Inkjet Printing
Product |
edible menu |
Designer |
Homaro Cantu |
Materials |
vegetable-based dyes on edible paper |
Manufacturer |
Moto Restaurant, Chicago |
Country |
USA |
Date |
2003 |
This printed edible menu provides an example of an interesting crossover between the food and the production industry and shows that even on a “techno” level food is providing a rich source of experiments.
Desktop printers have allowed anyone with a computer to turn a desk into a place where all sorts of things can happen. The seemingly humble printer may well be the hub of a revolution that will change the way we make objects. The day will soon come when we will be able to download plans for a product (a door handle, for example) and make it from our own desktop three-dimensional printer, which has been loaded with the appropriate raw materials, in the same way that you load up your breadmaker last thing at night so that you can enjoy a fresh loaf in the morning. Before such three-dimensional technology becomes a reality at a domestic level, however, “techies” are busy pushing the envelope to discover new applications for this familiar object, with its clanking robotics.
Already, Homaro Cantu, a chef based at Moto’s restaurant in Chicago, has turned a Canon i560 inkjet printer into a machine for making food. Having replaced the ink cartridges, he prints edible liquids instead of CMYK inks onto an edible starch-based paper. In a move worthy of Willy Wonka (let’s not forget the edible sugary grass and flowers in his chocolate factory), Cantu has abducted a printing process to create an entirely new concept in how you order—and what you can eat—in a restaurant.
Possibly one of the most unusual adaptations of this technology is one that has been developed by various teams of scientists across the world, who use “modified” inkjet printers to build up living tissue. Based on the long-held knowledge that, when placed next to each other, cells will weld together, the process involves tissue being built up, using a thermo-reversible gel as a kind of scaffolding over each cell. The team that developed this, from the Medical University of South Carolina, uses the thermo-reversible gel as a way to support the cells as they are being distributed through the “printing” action. This gel is interesting in itself, since it is designed to change instantly from liquid to gel (and back again) in response to a stimulus such as a change in temperature.
– Allows for any shape generated on a computer to be turned into a three-dimensional object.
– Open to experimentation.
– Still in its infancy.
– Slow.