3-D printer can build meter-tall objects in just a few hours

Abstract

A 3-D printer that stands 4 m tall can rapidly print large structures thanks to its innovative cooling system (Science 2019, DOI: 10.1126/science.aax1562). Three-dimensional printing has long been used for making one-off prototypes, but it’s beginning to move into manufacturing applications. Led by Chad A. Mirkin of Northwestern University, the team behind the new printer thinks the technology could help accelerate that trend by producing parts for medical devices, cars, airplanes, and other uses. The device relies on stereolithography, a form of 3-D printing that uses ultraviolet light to trigger polymerization reactions in a liquid resin to create a solid 3-D structure. In conventional stereolithography printers, ultraviolet light shines into the resin tank in specific patterns to build the desired structure layer by layer. Speedier stereolithography systems direct the UV light through a transparent window at the bottom of the tank and use a moving plate as a platform for