2022Year8moon21Day, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) the researchers developed a3DA way to print tiny artistic ice structures. According to an article published on the university’s official website, this reproducible and high-speed manufacturing method will be used in the future.“Completely subvert“3DPrinting technology. At the same time, this technology could be widely used in advanced manufacturing and biomedical engineering in the future.
△to use3DPrinting technology to create complex ice structures
Co-author of the study and doctoral student in mechanical engineering at the universityAkash Gargexplain:“Use our ice3DThrough the printing process, we can create microscopic ice models with smooth walls and soft transitional branch structures. This technology can be used in the future to manufacture micro-parts with clear internal vacuum requirements.
Technical background
GargAndCMUPostdoctoral Assistant in Chemical EngineeringSaigopalakrishna Yernenicollaborated in this study.
Water is considered the best choice for bioengineering applications because it is the most abundant substance on the Earth’s surface and a major building block of all living organisms. The simple and rapid phase change process from water to ice makes it a very environmentally friendly structural material.
Gargexplain:“There is no natural material more biocompatible than water.»
△Freeform ice print (3D-ICE）。A) personalized3DPrinting system and its main components, including cooling system, motion stage and piezoelectric nozzle.B) Piezoelectric inkjet nozzles are used to deposit water droplets (diameter=50microns) spray to maintain the-35°Con the cold build platform. The plan on which the platform is built (XY) movement is synchronized with the discharge of water droplets to print complex ice geometries
How does it work?
The printed ice structures were used as “reverse forming “Ice models are also used as sacrificial geometries, in which ice structures are dipped in a cooled structural material, such as a resin in liquid or gel form.
Once the material sets or hardens, the water is removed. To do this, ice can be melted to release water. Alternatively, ice can sublimate, converting it to water vapor rather than liquid water. Since ice can easily sublimate, it can be easily removed once the surrounding structural material has been poured and solidified.
high resolution3Dprinting system, used to deposit water droplets at subzero temperature35degrees Celsius on a temperature-controlled platform, quickly turning water into ice.
The new process allows branching geometries to be printed with smooth surfaces and smooth transitions by adjusting the frequency of water droplet ejection and synchronizing it with the movement of the platform.
△For more information, the study was published in Advanced Science
incredible achievement
Researchers have demonstrated this by using ice to print a tree, a spiral around a pole and even a one and a half meter tall octopus figurine. Due to the rapid phase changes of water and the strength of ice,3DPrinting allows for arbitrary ice structures without the need for tedious layer-by-layer printing or support structures.
Gargexplained that we conducted experiments to determine the printing paths, movement speeds, and droplet frequencies needed to fabricate smooth ice structures with straight, tilted, branched, and layered geometries in a reproducible manner.
Supervised this studyCMUAssociate Director of the Engineering Research AcceleratorBurak Özdoganlarexplain: “This is an astonishing achievement that will lead to exciting scientific advances.»
He went on to say:“We believe this approach has great potential to revolutionize tissue engineering and other fields requiring microstructures with complex channels, such as microfluidics and soft robotics.»
The team claims that in just one year, the ice3DThe process can then be used in engineering applications, such as creating pneumatic channels for software robots. However, the clinical application of tissue engineering will take more time. In the future, this new processing method could also provide new opportunities for microfluidics, biomedical devices, flexible electronics and art.
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