Next gen 3D metal printing
Fabric8Labs pioneers ECAM, a cold 3D metal printing method for intricate parts. It uses water-based feedstock with metal ions, offering high precision, scalability, and sustainability. Recent funding reached $50M.
Read original article
Fabric8Labs specializes in Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing (ECAM), a room-temperature 3D metal printing technology that creates complex metal parts without thermal processing. This process uses a water-based feedstock with dissolved metal ions to build parts at the atomic level, offering micron-scale feature resolution, high-purity materials, and rapid scalability for mass manufacturing. The technology boasts high-performance capabilities, allowing for ultra-high resolution printing onto sensitive substrates like PCBs and silicon. ECAM is also scalable, combining established technologies to enable mass production with a patented microelectrode array printhead. Moreover, the process is sustainable, using recyclable metal feedstocks and low energy consumption, resulting in over a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional manufacturing methods. Fabric8Labs has garnered support and funding for its innovative technology, as evidenced by a recent $50M Series B financing round.
Related
Test firing of a 3D-printed rocket engine designed through Computational Model
LEAP 71, a Dubai AI engineering company, achieved a milestone by testing a 3D-printed liquid rocket engine in the UK, generating 5 kN thrust. Collaboration with AMCM and the University of Sheffield supports future advancements in space propulsion technology.
DIY PCB Method?
The article details a DIY process for making high-quality PCBs at home using tools like a CNC mill and UV curing resins. It involves steps like soldermask application and UV-curing ink, offering professional results.
AI discovers new rare-earth-free magnet at 200 times the speed of man
Materials Nexus and the University of Sheffield collaborated to create MagNex, a rare-earth-free permanent magnet using AI, significantly faster than traditional methods. MagNex offers a sustainable, cost-effective alternative for powerful magnets.
ESM3, EsmGFP, and EvolutionaryScale
EvolutionaryScale introduces ESM3, a language model simulating 500 million years of evolution. ESM3 designs proteins with atomic precision, including esmGFP, a novel fluorescent protein, showcasing its potential for innovative protein engineering.
Engineers Discovered the Secret to Making 17x Stronger Cement
Engineers at Princeton University enhance cement strength by mimicking oyster shells' structure. The innovative method increases toughness and ductility significantly, offering potential environmental benefits and new possibilities for sustainable building materials.
19 commentsIt's interesting to see this idea in action, though with my limited experience with electroplating it seems like it'd be absurdly slow.
1. Deposition can be very precise (they say micron-level resolution here), but it's typically slow for a naive approach. That's not necessarily a problem if you need that precision. They say their approach is fast, probably by using some kind of array of nozzles (think an inkjet printer head).
2. You can also selectively run the process in reverse, so an electrochemical printer is actually a combo additive and subtractive manufacturing machine.
3. Because it's electrochemistry, I believe such a 3D printer is mostly restricted to depositing pure elemental metals and only a few alloys. This severely restricts your material selections.
Very cool to see this commercialized though, I'm curious how far they can take it.
One of the ancillary ideas that I and a few others came up with in exploring binder jetting was 3D organ printing because the feature size is quite small. I wonder if there's a world where you could use an analogous process on a solution of individual cells.
This looks like something I toyed with in 2016, but (as you may expect from my lack of relevant experience and qualifications) all I found were what Edison called "ways to not make a lightbulb".
The:
> microelectrode array printhead
in particular is what I wanted to experiment with, because something like this clearly allows parallelisation of the build process in much the same way photopolymerisation is faster than FDM.
Do we know if this is better with respect to that?
https://www.servethehome.com/next-gen-copper-cold-plates-so-...
Arctic makes a line of AIO coolers which are among the lowest-cost, yet have industry-leading performance and can dissipate hundreds of watts with ease.
This just doesn't seem like an area that needs to be optimized. I could see certain applications like cooling high power RF stuff and lasers...but if this was the best they could do for their headline application, I'm a bit skeptical.
Either they're doing a poor job of commercializing it, it's got drawbacks that are deal-killers for a lot of industries, or something else...
The tungsten capability really throws me for a loop. As someone who TIG welds in my spare time, I can’t imagine having a machine in my shop that could make electrodes. The amount of energy required must be … a lot.
That just does not sound cheap. One envisions a cost-distributed 3D effort, with this used for certain critical parts.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US10724146B1/en
Edit: I wonder what compensation for anode consumption looks like. Model based? I assume in-situ measurement/process control is hard.
Random extremely minor typo spotted, “worforce” instead of “workforce” in the 2nd entry of the “in the press” section.
derctuo and dernocua also contain some explorations of it
derctuo contains my notes from 02020, published in 02020, including three that discuss this process: https://derctuo.github.io/notes/electrodeposition-3d-printin... https://derctuo.github.io/notes/foam-electro-etching.html https://derctuo.github.io/notes/cyclic-fabrication-systems.h...
in dernocua, my notes from 02021, published in 02021, https://dernocua.github.io/notes/fresnel-mirror-electropolis... discusses using it to make optics, https://dernocua.github.io/notes/freezer-seacrete.html discusses using it to deposit rock rather than metal (much faster), https://dernocua.github.io/notes/layers-plus-electroforming.... discusses a process hybridized with lamination of 2-D cut layers to get the rough form, and https://dernocua.github.io/notes/electrolytic-berlinite.html discusses the possibility of using it to print refractory chemically bonded ceramics
Related
Test firing of a 3D-printed rocket engine designed through Computational Model
LEAP 71, a Dubai AI engineering company, achieved a milestone by testing a 3D-printed liquid rocket engine in the UK, generating 5 kN thrust. Collaboration with AMCM and the University of Sheffield supports future advancements in space propulsion technology.
DIY PCB Method?
The article details a DIY process for making high-quality PCBs at home using tools like a CNC mill and UV curing resins. It involves steps like soldermask application and UV-curing ink, offering professional results.
AI discovers new rare-earth-free magnet at 200 times the speed of man
Materials Nexus and the University of Sheffield collaborated to create MagNex, a rare-earth-free permanent magnet using AI, significantly faster than traditional methods. MagNex offers a sustainable, cost-effective alternative for powerful magnets.
ESM3, EsmGFP, and EvolutionaryScale
EvolutionaryScale introduces ESM3, a language model simulating 500 million years of evolution. ESM3 designs proteins with atomic precision, including esmGFP, a novel fluorescent protein, showcasing its potential for innovative protein engineering.
Engineers Discovered the Secret to Making 17x Stronger Cement
Engineers at Princeton University enhance cement strength by mimicking oyster shells' structure. The innovative method increases toughness and ductility significantly, offering potential environmental benefits and new possibilities for sustainable building materials.