3D Printing entering the metal age

[Locutus]

The European Space Agency has unveiled plans to "take 3D printing into the metal age" by building parts for jets, spacecraft and fusion projects.

The Amaze project brings together 28 institutions to develop new metal components which are lighter, stronger and cheaper than conventional parts.

Additive manufacturing (or "3D printing") has already revolutionised the design of plastic products.

Printing metal parts for rockets and planes would cut waste and save money.

The layered method of assembly also allows intricate designs - geometries which are impossible to achieve with conventional metal casting.

Parts for cars and satellites can be optimised to be lighter and - simultaneously - incredibly robust.

Tungsten alloy components that can withstand temperatures of 3,000C were unveiled at Amaze's launch on Tuesday at London's Science Museum.


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BBC News - Amaze project aims to take 3D printing 'into metal age'

related > from a comment elsewhere but it's in the ballbark:

I remember recently reading an article about someone inventing a machine that turns insects into a peanut butter type of food. It was supposed to be a solution to the overpopulation of the future. I'm picturing a 3D printer that makes food and uses that bug paste as the "ink". It's not exactly what Star Trek had in mind with replicators, but ya gotta start somewhere.

 

[Goober]

Manufacturing of products will take a radical change. It is the next industrial revolution and will change the Western economies. It will also lead to more manufacturing in the West- and not in China.

http://www.newscientist.com/special/3D-printing

http://www.technewsdaily.com/18509-design-museum-3d-printing-exhibition.html

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/3-d-...a-new-industrial-revolution-experts-1.1307547

We're on the verge of the next industrial revolution, no doubt about it," added Dartmouth College business professor Richard D'Aveni. "In 25 years, entire industries are going to disappear. Countries relying on mass manufacturing are going to find themselves with no revenues and no jobs."

On ground, sea or air, when parts break, new ones can be made on the spot, and even the tools to install them can be made, eliminating the need for staging parts in warehouses around the world, said Jeff DeGrange, vice-president of Direct Digital Manufacturing at Stratasys Inc., currently the industry leader in a field of about 50 3-D printer companies.

"We're going to see innovation happening at a much higher rate, introduction of products at a much higher rate," said DeGrange. "We live in an on-demand world now, and we'll see production schedules are going to be greatly compressed."