3D Printing Great Tool for Displays, Exhibits and Promotions

Development model shown to Portland city council for project approval.

Capture the imagination of your Customers and Patrons with Unique Displays:

Architecture

• Turn around in as little as 24 hours means more time to perfect your designs.
• Embedded textures lets you simulate the colors of building materials like brick, stone and wood.
• Small features lets you design realistic windows, doors, beams, facades and other important visual design elements.
• Prints come directly from your BIM models.

Marketing

• Get your products in front of customers where it would otherwise be difficult or impossible.
• Customize marketing materials with logos and designs.
• Infinite customization to achieve the exact effects you desire.
• Get concept models in front of customers early in the product development cycle to get feedback before spending too much money on the wrong track.
• Get tangible products in your customers hands instead of a 2D computer image.

Promotions

• Pens and magnets are boring and forgettable. Make a promotional giveaway your customer has never before seen.
• Come to us with nothing but an idea for a promotional product and we can take care of the rest.
• Personalize your giveaways to the exact customer you are handing it to with custom messaging.
• Many promotional products require expensive tooling and long lead times to accomplish - RapidMade can make your promotional products in a week or less.

Displays

• Drive traffic to your stores at the window and sales with custom retail displays.
• Stand out and get attention at your next trade show with eye catching models.
• Capture your customers' attention and make them remember your brand
• Lean on our design team to come up with a creative solution that will satisfy your customers and be flexible for your budget.

Exhibits

• Store geometric and color data for priceless artifacts and works of art permanently with 3D scanning technology.
• Use digital object data to engage visitors online with interactive web exhibits.
• Create to-scale or re-scale replicas that let your visitors safely interact with models of priceless artifacts without endangering the original piece.
• Create complimentary pieces for your exhibit from object data scanned by other museums around the world.

RapidMade Advantages:

• Color: with almost 400,000 colors to choose from, why skimp?
• Size: scale-down huge machines or buildings to hand-held or table-sized replicas
• Logistics: avoid lugging heavy machinery to trade shows
• Creativity: turn your BIM and CAD models into tangible marketing materials
• Carefree: leave the design and fabrication to us, just supply the ideas

UCLA "Cements" Its Reputation Using 3D Printing to Capture CO2

We've blogged before about ventures that have involved 3D printing houses.  Now, UCLA researchers are working on a 3D printing process that allows them to reuse captive carbon dioxide as an ingredient in cement.  They call their revolutionary material CO2NCRETE.

Now that they've identified a process that works, the team is thinking about how to scale up and commercialize it so the 3D printed CO2NCRETE can be marketed and sold:

“We know how to capture the carbon. We know how to improve the efficiency. We know how to shape it with 3D printing, but we need to do all of that at the lab scale now, and begin the process of actually increasing the volume of material and then thinking about how to pilot it commercially,” states DeShazo, who has been responsible for providing ‘public policy and economic guidance’ in terms of this research.”

Maybe someday, the 3D printed cement can be used to 3D print those houses.

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UC Berkeley Powder Prints "Bloom"

Photo Credit: 3DPrint.com

Universities erecting new buildings have become commonplace these days, but UC Berkeley's recent installation of the "first and largest powder-based 3D printed cement structure built to date" made history.

Under the direction of Associate Professor Ronald Rael, graduate students used 11 3D Systems printers, spending more than a year to individually print and assemble 840 "iron oxide-free Portland cement polymer" blocks.  One cool construction feature:  the assembly instructions were printed onto the blocks.  Once completed, the Bloom pavilion towered 9 feet and measured 12 feet by 12 feet.

The structure's design is both functional and aesthetic, yet its formulation may be most noteworthy.  Dr. Rael, with support from the Siam Research and Innovation Co. Ltd., developed the printable cement compound.

“While there are a handful of people currently experimenting with printing 3-D architecture, only a few are looking at 3-D printing with cement-based materials, and all are extruding wet cement through a nozzle to produce rough panels,” Rael said. “We are mixing polymers with cement and fibers to produce very strong, lightweight, high-resolution parts on readily available equipment; it’s a very precise, yet frugal technique. This project is the genesis of a realistic, marketable process with the potential to transform the way we think about building a structure”

Although the resulting structure may be beautiful, durable and lightweight, the production speed doesn't appear to compete with other cement-based printing methods such as the 10 Chinese printed units manufactured by Win Sun which were erected in a single day.

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3D Printing "Silences" Dissention

Soundproofing 3D Print (3Dprint.com)

At RapidMade, there's nothing we enjoy more than designing and printing a creative solution to solve a client's challenge.  So we like to follow stories that describe how 3D printing has improved someone's quality of life...

Noise in multi-unit dwellings is an ongoing source of annoyance.  My daughter and her college suite mates are currently battling their RA about allegations that they make too much noise when they walk.  While an extreme example, most of us can easily think of at least one time when traveling sound created neighborly conflict.

At least one researcher, Foteini Setaki, believes the answer relies on 3D printing custom 

"sound absorbers...  based on a principle called passive destructive interference or PDI. It’s the intimate relationship between geometry and acoustic performance that makes PDI absorbers work, and she uses advanced additive manufacturing techniques to build unique, freeform geometries to test and understand the acoustics underlying the performance of various materials and shapes."

Through these trials, Setaki hopes to apply the lessons learned to engineer sound absorbing barriers that are tailored to specific spaces such as lecture halls and gymnasiums.

Unfortunately, the timing won't solve my daughter's dilemma... maybe a cheap carpet will have to suffice.

3D Printed Bricks Designed to Stand Up to Earthquakes

Photo Credit: Inside 3DP

When I first moved to the Pacific North West, one of the first things I noticed was the lack of brick-based architecture - an obvious nod to life in an Earthquake zone.  But that could someday change... 

According to Inside 3DP, "one California-based architecture firm, Emerging Objects, ...(has) gone back to basics and reinvented the humble brick to create the Quake Column. This appropriately named pillar is manufactured from 3D printed bricks, made from sand using the ancient art of Incan masonry.

Not only can it withstand earthquakes, but the bricks require no cement or mortar to hold them together. This is due to the design of the bricks which interlock, rather like a secure 3D puzzle. Once the bricks have been assembled, they then become earthquake proof as they do not allow any kind of horizontal movement."

Other advantages cited:

• The printed bricks can be marked in a way that ensures accurate assembly even by untrained laborers
• They are hollow but strong, reducing material use and product weight

And if they are made from readily available raw materials, one would hope that the cost to produce them would be low, perhaps much like the 3D printed mud homes being proposed by WASP.

Mortgage Lender Offers Novel 3D Printed Give-Away as Incentive

Image and Article Credit:  3DPrint.com

I remember a time when banks gave away toasters and other items to win customers' business. One notoriously offered firearms!   Adding a new twist to an old idea, the Swiss Bank Zurcher Kantonalbank recently rewarded a mortgage applicant with a 3D print of the customer's home. Using the home's blueprint to create a 3D model, Zurcher Kantonalbank had the model printed into a replica it then mounted on wood with a plague bearing the bank's name.  That's creative and memorable advertising...  And I can understand why the bank might go to such lengths.  Housing in Switzerland is among the most expensive real estate markets in the world.  Maybe this idea will catch on with other lenders and real estate brokers.

Will 3D Printing Replace or Augment Craftsmanship?

Grand Concourse Restaurant:  Photo Credit:  Muer.com

In my hometown of Pittsburgh, there is a beautiful restaurant, the Grand Concourse in Station Square.  It is the site of the former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Station.  My grandfather was a cabinet maker for the railroad, and my grandmother once told me, years later, that one of his accomplishments was the refurbishment of its ornate ceiling.  A section of the elaborate crown molding, made of marble I believe, had been destroyed.  My grandfather created a replica out of wood which was such a close match, one couldn't pick out the faux molding.  I imagine the hours of labor that went into this important project and wonder how my grandfather would have reacted to our now being able to quickly scan the molding and print a copy overnight.

Many believe that the craftsmanship of that generation has largely been lost, replaced by mass produced materials.  But perhaps 3D printing will spur a high-tech revival.  Access to 3D scanning and additive manufacturing technologies already allow us to re-create artifacts that have been lost to time.   RapidMade often gets requests to replicate facades and other architectural features.  We once printed replacement stove handles for an antique oven.  And now, digital designs and additive manufacturing enable artisans to imagine and create exotic and unique objects that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to be made in my grandfather's time.

Additive Manufacturing Revolutionizes Architectural and Construction Fields

Most people have heard the stories about 3D printed gun and body parts.  Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing, as it often called, is a process where a solid object is made when a CAD model directs the printer to apply hundreds to thousands of successive layers in the required shape.  This method is in direct contrast to traditional (subtractive) manufacturing which begins with a block or billet of material that is then cut away until the desired piece is obtained or casting which involves injecting a liquid material into a mold and letting it solidify.

AM is revolutionizing the interior design, architectural and construction fields because it overcomes many of the limitations traditional practices have faced:

·         Because structures and components can be printed, design restrictions can be relaxed, allowing high complexity and customization.

·         Elaborate internal cavities and complicated assemblies can be built as single objects.

·         Structures can be printed on site, eliminating long and vast supply chains.

·         Material can be used only where it is specifically needed – and it can be locally sourced.

·         Little to no labor is required.  Beyond some need to post process, personnel can “set and forget” the printer.

And its influences are seen in the interior and exterior of homes and offices.  Engineers capitalize on the technology’s ability to improve heating and cooling efficiency; using less material minimizes energy loss and improved intricate designs maximize air flow.  Interior designers and artists are also among the early adopters of AM.  They can now design and print elaborate lighting and sculptures in an array of materials that include printed plastics, metals, and composites. 

Even more impressive are AM’s influences on building design and construction.   The Mobius House, built in the 1990s in the Netherlands, is a wonderful example of the design possibilities.  Constructed as a figure eight or Mobius loop, the designers’ intent was to mimic a 24-hour day by establishing communal living spaces in the crossing points of the loop.  But now, advanced construction methods also exist – homes are actually being printed: 

Image Credit:  Protohouse

Softkill Designs’ ProtoHouse was made from 30 fibrous nylon pieces that were printed from plastic powder and assembled to form the exotic structure.  Its creators argue that the resulting efficiencies in time, material and logistics allow it to compete with traditional construction methods.  And while its porous, futuristic appearance may prevent widespread adoption, there are at least two recent construction-specific developments that can feasibly compete.  Image credit:  ProtoHouse

In the UK, the D Shape Printer is now commercially available.  Capable of printing structures that are 6x6x6 meters, it works using a binder jetting process.  Essentially, a binder is infused into layered sand in the desired pattern, creating a marble-like material.  The surrounding sand remains as a support until the piece hardens, and it can then be recycled for later use.  According to its website, advantages of this approach include:

·         accuracy (tolerances of 5-10 millimeters are possible)

·         speed (the process is said to be four times faster)

·         design (complexity and style won’t change the production cost)

·         cost (despite the added expense of the binder, the overall costs when compared to Portland Cement are supposedly 30 – 50% lower)

·         safety (having no construction personnel involved reduces accidents).

Chinese Printed House Photo Credit CNTV.CN

A Chinese firm, WinSun, has also begun printing houses using a “sand, concrete and glass fiber ‘ink’” made from industrial construction waste.  The firm’s executive argues the resulting structure is lighter yet five times stronger, and it can be printed either on site or assembled from walls printed at the factory.  Either way, the hollow walls have beam columns printed with steel reinforcement bars inside, simplifying construction; workers then join together and pour concrete into the walls.  Although it recently erected 10 buildings in a day at a cost of less than $5,000 each, concerns exist about the material’s composition.  The use of glass fibers may pose a safety concern, so its suitability for long-term housing is questionable.   Chinese Printed Building Image Credit: English CNTV.CN

Another project uses solar energy to laser sinter sand to create structures.  Beyond the environmental friendliness of the technology, the ability to provide low-cost housing in developing countries with limited energy sources is intriguing.  Even NASA sees the potential of printing what one needs when and where it is needed – printing tools and housing in space or other planets.

Closer to home, architects and developers regularly use 3D printed models to showcase their designs.  They can be printed directly from CAD or BIM files and assemblies and include cut-aways to show interiors.  Full-color models typically range in sizes from under 1” – 15” (or larger with assembly) in composite, plastic or metal. Pricing depends on size, volume, material and quantity.  And unlike handmade models, printing can be completed in a day.

Contact RapidMade to learn more:  info@rapidmade.com