According to MIT scientists, a mathematical formula developed by MIT researchers and other institutions could help dramatically improve the sustainability of 3D printing.
The Trouble with 3D-Printed Plastics
3D printers typically print parts from mass-produced polymer powders, which are consistent and predictable — but also difficult to recycle.
Other more environmentally friendly options exist and continue to be developed, but altering the printing materials also requires the 3D printer’s parameters to be adjusted, a painstaking process of altering up to 100 characteristics, mostly by hand.
"Mathematical Function” for New Parameters
A research team from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Greece’s National Center for Scientific Research developed a process that, in effect, would allow printing software to quickly recognize the properties of a new printing material that it may never have encountered before and adjust many of the relevant parameters accordingly.
The researchers modified a 3D printer’s extruder to measure the flow and force of a material over 20 minutes, then fed those numbers into their “mathematical function,” producing new parameters that can be implemented in standard printing software.
Success with Bio-Based Materials
MIT officials said the technique accounted for about half of the parameters that would ordinarily need to be altered by humans. Experiments with new materials — including ones from biological sources — showed that the process resulted in successful versions of even complex parts.
Easing 3D Printing’s Environmental Impact
The method could allow for more recyclable printed products and curb the use of polymers derived from fossil fuels, ultimately slashing the environmental impact of additive manufacturing overall.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com / Nordroden
