Although it sounds almost incredible, through 3D printing one can achieve fully functional mechanisms, through a single technological process, without requiring any post-production assembly processes. Mechanisms such as ball bearings, chains, and even whole engines or gearboxes can be printed by this method. But do you think that is all?
Romanian researchers are experimenting with 3D Printing
George Buican is one of the few people who use a high-performance 3D printer, worth about 500,000 euros. There are only two in Romania and they allow the creation of any metal or plastic object with laser. The best part is they are suitable for the manufacture of unique objects such as body parts.
In general, 3D printing works great in the reconstruction for skull caps, bone reconstruction in bone cancer, because the shapes are irregular, very different from person to person. The process is something like this: MRI of bone structure, then CAD software, regenerate and then 3D printing.
Until they will be able to create replicas of parts of the human skeleton, students in Brasov, Romania are doing digital dental casts, using scanners. A tooth made with a 3D printer is pretty expensive for the moment (we are talking about a few hundred euros), but when the entire manufacturing process will be improved, prices will drop. Possibilities of 3D printers are endless and scientists – including those in Romania – are working hard to discover them.
3D Print Canal House: the first ever 3D printed building in the world
If you have 2,5 Euros around, make sure you buy a ticket to assist and support the execution of the first ever 3D printed building. Oh, and buy a plane ticket to Amsterdam. DUS architectural firm in the Netherlands uses a large 3D printing machine called KamerMaker, housed inside a giant “box” with a height of 6 meters (a former shipping container).
In the end, the building will look like a traditional Dutch house such as those built on the banks of the canal, and will be open to the public as a museum of design, with 12 rooms dedicated to various research projects in the field of 3D printing. The construction is expected to last three years. Can’t wait!