Liquid metal printing, developed by MIT researchers, rapidly creates 3D metal structures by depositing molten aluminum along into a bed filled with microscopic glass beads. The process can produce low-resolution objects like frames for chairs and tables in minutes.
I don’t understand exactly what is novel about it. Maybe this is just another round of MIT PR doing it thing. Remember media publishing that MIT developed solar cells that also create energy during the night? Yeah. µW as they used heat stored during the day …
Back on topic: Those machines are already in production environments. Most of them opt to use metal wire and laser (some an electrical arc similar to welding) instead of a molten material but they are more or less identical. If you go back a decade you will find people in the RepRap forum experimenting with solder wire as filament for FDM. To completely blow your mind: there are commercial printers available that do extrude liquid glass.
I don’t understand exactly what is novel about it. Maybe this is just another round of MIT PR doing it thing. Remember media publishing that MIT developed solar cells that also create energy during the night? Yeah. µW as they used heat stored during the day …
Back on topic: Those machines are already in production environments. Most of them opt to use metal wire and laser (some an electrical arc similar to welding) instead of a molten material but they are more or less identical. If you go back a decade you will find people in the RepRap forum experimenting with solder wire as filament for FDM. To completely blow your mind: there are commercial printers available that do extrude liquid glass.