Got a 3D printer now, it's fun!

[Billzilla]

3D printed (from concrete) houses, etc, in Shanghai.





http://www.3ders.org/articles/201501...-in-china.html

[Gammaboy]

Looks kwality.

[Alex.P]

At the 21st hour. Nearly done…

[Alex.P]

Not a bad finish for test fitment before production...

[Billzilla]

Very nice!

[Alex.P]

Thanks Bill. This was my second attempt at such a part that required so much support structure in the print. The first was a brake caliper we are developing but the lack of an enclosure caused it to distort too much during the print. This upright bottom bracket came out very well. I am going to print it again with half the support structure, 50% more infill and a thicker outer skin. I want to give it a bit more strength.

[Nacho]

http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/wo...d-engine-on-di

An Australian-made, additively manufactured jet engine is being claimed as a world first.

Monash University and Amaero Engineering – a company spun out from the university and a finalist in last year’s Endeavour Awards – have printed two such engines, with one of these currently on display at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon. The other is in Toulouse, France, with MicroTurbo (Safran).

The proof-of-concept gas turbine engines were the result of a complex, year-long project, said Monash’s Professor Xinhua Wu, who heads up the Monash Centre For Additive Manufacturing (MCAM).

"We took the engine to pieces and scanned the components,” AAP reports her as saying.

The engine was provided by Microturbo (Safran) and an auxiliary power unit of the kind used in aircraft such the Falcon 20.

“The partnership with Microturbo (Safran) is a success story that was recognised last year when Safran gave the team its Prize ‘Innovation for Product and Technology’ for the excellent work carried out in partnership with Microturbo and the University of Birmingham,” Jean-François Rideau, head of R&T from Microturbo (Safran), said in a statement.

“Monash and AMAERO are already key partners for our new developments and we are keen to have their help in developing new technologies for our future engines.”

3Dprint.com reported that MCAM apparently used a Concept Laser Xline 1000R, the largest selective laser melting machine in the world, for the project.

The ABC notes that Monash is currently making top-secret parts for aerospace companies Safran, Airbus and Boeing.

To read an interview with Professor Wu that appeared on this website in December, click here.

[Billzilla]

http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/wo...d-engine-on-di

A bit meh over this sorry.
Those machines have been around for a few years now. Not really a big deal.

[Nacho]

I guess my post was more about what they've done with it than the machine that does the work.

While people are playing with bricks and toy soldiers, these guys are working on jet engines, haha.

[Billzilla]

I guess my post was more about what they've done with it than the machine that does the work.

While people are playing with bricks and toy soldiers, these guys are working on jet engines, haha.

Oh yeah fair enough, but my concern it that the blades in a jet engine will be pretty crappy if printed. The turbine blades especially as they are incredibly difficult and expensive to make well - they're made from a single crystal of metal grown ..... somehow .... and have internal air cooling that vents in various places around the skin, that lets them operate in an environment 100° hotter than their melting point.
The physical shape (internal cooling passages, etc) wouldn't be too difficult to do nicely with the printer but the blade would suffer a pretty big performance hit from not being a single crystal type.

[Nacho]

Give it time

[Benonymous]

I don't think any 3D printing method will ever be able to replace a cast, single crystal turbine blade. They have unique properties and show the most resistance to creep.

Read this ( I had to read it a couple of times )

[rx213b]

Oh yeah fair enough, but my concern it that the blades in a jet engine will be pretty crappy if printed. The turbine blades especially as they are incredibly difficult and expensive to make well - they're made from a single crystal of metal grown ..... somehow .... and have internal air cooling that vents in various places around the skin, that lets them operate in an environment 100° hotter than their melting point.
The physical shape (internal cooling passages, etc) wouldn't be too difficult to do nicely with the printer but the blade would suffer a pretty big performance hit from not being a single crystal type.

They had this at the RMIT stand of the Avalon airshow...looked like a toy, it is about the size of two handspans. Barely what you would say is production worthy.
Finished product looked 'rough' and needed machining, it's not something you'd replace current tech with

[Billzilla]

(copy from FB)

After a few hours figuring out how to make Autocad do what needs to be done, here's version 2 of the new hexacopter motor mount adaptor.
It's improved over the 1st one by blending in the top circular section with the triangular bottom mount smoothly. And the three lower bolt holes have hexagonal top holes to capture the nuts that hold the bolt that holds
the mount onto the end of the arm. Since the bolts that hold the motor to the adaptor mount come up from underneath I have to tighten those up and then fit the bolts (only 3 mm ones) that hold the adaptor onto the arm, but the motor will cover those holes from the top so they can only come in from the bottom - hence the captured nuts .... I hope.
The top leans over 8° to give the motor/props a bit of dihedral effect for increased dynamic stability; I tried that on the 'old' copter a day or two ago and it really seems to work. But it makes creating the adaptor a bit more tricky in CAD .... but after a lot of head scratching I figured it out.
I'll print out one tomorrow to see how it looks. They're pretty small, the three holes in the base are only about 27.5 mm apart.


Handy little gadgets they are.

[Benonymous]

Print 2 Bill and run the machine slow, say, 60mm/s. Printing the second one will allow the other to cool between layers, always good with small parts.