Recently, the 9T laboratory of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has developed a carbon fiber reinforced plastic 3D printer. It is understood that carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRP) is stronger than steel, but lighter than steel, so it is very much in many industries. Important material.
However, carbon fiber reinforced composites are also not perfect. Each piece needs a separate mold, so it is too expensive compared to aluminum or steel. In addition to cost, the production cycle is very long. Composite materials are high-strength and durable materials that are made by combining carbon fiber and plastic.
9T Labs, a division of ETH, has found a new way to produce carbon components: developing a 3D printer to produce carbon fiber composite parts. This method abandons the bulky molds of traditional manufacturing and uses proprietary software on the computer. The manufactured parts are printed directly using a 3D printer, and the materials are mixed by heating nozzles and in a certain ratio. 'We combine the advantages of 3D printing technology with the valuable properties of carbon fiber composites.' Founder of 9T Lab One of Giovanni Cavolina said.
3D printing can create highly complex geometric components that contribute to the manufacture of satellite antennas or hand prostheses. In addition, the 9T Lab team also stated that it can effectively reduce material waste.
At present, the 9T laboratory team is debugging the prototype of the 3D printer and plans to test it at the beginning of next year. The 9T lab team intends to put the 3D printer to the university branch, hoping to get technical feedback from these technical institutions to further Improve their printers.
So far, 9T Labs is still working at ETH, but they hope to expand the scale and move out of ETH as soon as possible. It is reported that they will join four new members before the end of this year. 3D Tiger will continue to pay attention to and report on the team's progress!