Megatech by Daniel Franklin

Author:Daniel Franklin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PublicAffairs

Source: Wohlers Associates, Inc

The first 3D printer has already appeared on a mass-production line in China, and more will follow. LITE-ON, a leading contract manufacturer, uses printers made by Optomec, an Albuquerque-based firm, in its Guangzhou factory to print electronic circuits, such as antennae and sensors, directly into products such as mobile phones and other consumer electronics, instead of making those components separately and assembling them into the devices either by robot or by hand.

The range of things that can be produced with additive manufacturing is growing. At one end of the scale, Winsun, a Chinese firm, is printing houses. The company uses an extrusion head, much like that used to ooze icing onto a cake, to deposit a fast-drying mixture of cement and recycled construction waste to prefabricate large sections of a building which are then joined together on site. A more high-tech approach is being taken by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, which has worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, a firm of architects, to print building structures using materials that integrate components such as insulation, air and moisture barriers and exterior cladding. The idea is to develop an additive building process that results in no waste.

At the other end of the scale, Scrona, a company spun out from ETH Zurich, a Swiss technical university, is 3D printing some of the smallest objects. It uses a process called NanoDrip which, as its name suggests, deposits tiny droplets of liquid containing nanoparticles – measured as 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre) or less – to build microscopic structures. These include silver or gold conductive grids, invisible to the naked eye, which can make touchscreens more responsive to finger movements.

Virtuous recycle

Nanotechnology will provide ways to enhance the abilities of materials which have long been used in manufacturing. Modumetal, a Seattle company, is using nanomaterials to build up veneers of different metals to produce what it calls “nanolaminates” by means of a type of electrolytic deposition, which is a bit like electroplating but more sophisticated. By carefully manipulating an electric field the process gets various metals suspended in a liquid to form layers on the surface of objects. The technique also controls how the materials in the nanolaminate react with each other. The company has begun coating components used in the gas and oil industry to provide what it claims will be an anti-corrosion protection that will last up to eight times longer than conventional treatments.

In the future, Modumetal believes it will be possible not only to coat structures but also to “grow” complete components from nanolaminates using conventional materials such as steel, zinc and aluminium. Moreover, it is possible for the electrolytic process to be reversed. This means once nanolaminated components reach the end of their working lives the material used to produce them can be recovered.

As materials become ever more exotic, recycling will become a necessity in manufacturing. New ways will be needed cheaply to dismantle products, such as electronics, and recover the materials they contain. Cars made

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