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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6 7 6 NEW PRINTER OFFERS BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 3D PRINTSHOP A 3D-printing device developed by a Lawrence Livermore Nation- al Laboratory (LLNL) engineer UL is coordinating research on 3D printer emissions with Georgia Tech and Emory University.

MIT’s glass 3D printing process. Courtesy of Steve Keating.

won a 2015 Federal Laboratory Consor- tium (FLC) Far West Region Award for outstanding technology development. The award, given for the Large Area Projection Micro Stereolithography (LAPµSL) technology, was presented to Bryan Moran at the recent FLC Far West/Mid-Continent Region meeting in San Diego. The LAPµSL is an image pro- jection micro-stereolithography system that rapidly produces very small fea- tures over large areas by using optical techniques to write images in parallel. This approach is a departure from con- ventional techniques, which either re- quire mechanical stage movements or the rastering of beams to expose pixels in series. LAPµSL combines the advan- tages of laser-based stereolithography (large area and speed, but poor resolu- tion) and digital light processing stereo- lithography (fine details and speed, but only over a small area), enabling rapid printing of fine details over large areas. “ The LAPµSL system is conceptu- ally similar to building a mosaic of tiles

Emory, will assess potential health haz- ards from exposure to the emissions.

that thencombine tomakeamuch larger picture, ” says Moran. He adds that many applications could benefit from the abil- ity to create complex shapes and small features, unlike other 3D printers, which sacrifice overall part size for small fea- ture size. For example, parts produced with the new machine can be used as master patterns for injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, and var- ious metal casting processes. For more information: Bryan Moran, 925.423.3568, moran5@llnl.gov, www.llnl.gov. PARTNERSHIP EXPLORES HEALTH IMPACT OF PRINTER EMISSIONS UL, a safety science organization based in Northbrook, Ill., recently an- nounced partnerships with Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory Uni- versity’s Rollins School of Public Health to study the impact of 3D printing on indoor air quality. The research is de- signed to characterize chemical and particle emissions of 3D printing tech- nologies and to evaluate their poten- tial impact on human health. The first research phase, led by Rodney Weber of Georgia Tech, is to define the appro- priate analytical measurement and risk evaluation methodologies for character- izing and assessing particle and chemi- cal emissions from 3D printing technol- ogies. The second phase, conducted by The Rollins School of Public Health at

ul.com, gatech.edu, emory.edu. UNIQUE SYSTEM PRINTS TRANSPARENT GLASS

Researchers at Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, Cambridge, have developed the ability to print optically transparent glass objects. A major ob- stacle to accomplishing this task is the extremely high temperature needed to melt the material. Others have used tiny particles of glass, melded togeth- er at a lower temperature via sinter- ing. But such objects are structurally weak and optically cloudy. In contrast, the system developed at MIT produces glass objects that are both strong and fully transparent to light. Molten glass is loaded into a hopper after being gath- ered from a conventional glassblowing kiln. When complete, the finished piece must be cut away from the moving plat- form on which it is assembled. In oper- ation, the device’s hopper and a nozzle through which the glass is extruded to form an object are maintained at tem- peratures of roughly 1900°F, far higher than those used for other 3D printing. The new process could allow unprec- edented control over the glass shapes that can be produced, including vari- able thicknesses and complex inner features. Additional work will focus on the use of colors in the glass, which the team has already demonstrated in lim- ited testing. web.mit.edu.

LLNL optical engineer Bryan Moran makes an adjustment to the Large Area Projection Micro Stereolithography ma- chine. Courtesy of Steve Wampler/LLNL.