3D printer for space

[mboeller]

new developments:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/engineers_pave_the/

https://www.miun.se/en/Press/Press-releases/Press-archive/2012/Unikt-genombrott-for-tillverkning-av-amorf-metall/

http://www.exmet.se/

[sanman]

ARCAM, electron beam melting (EBM®), a member of the wide family of additive manufacturing technologies, makes it possible to manufacture components of extremely complex shapes within a single process.

Aha!

This Electron-Beam Melting stuff is really a technology to keep an eye on.
It has incredible potential whose surface hasn't even been scratched yet.

http://www.arcam.com/technology/ebm-process.aspx

[grondilu]

ARCAM, electron beam melting (EBM®), a member of the wide family of additive manufacturing technologies, makes it possible to manufacture components of extremely complex shapes within a single process.

Aha!

This Electron-Beam Melting stuff is really a technology to keep an eye on.
It has incredible potential whose surface hasn't even been scratched yet.

http://www.arcam.com/technology/ebm-process.aspx

Indeed.  Considering how small is the wave length of an electron, processing metal with a CNC electron beam is quite a mind-blowing perspective.   That could seriously make a lot of "room in the bottom", if you see what I mean.

PS.  The concept is not much new though, as a quick search showed me:

[robertross]

And something they could do with the material on the moon (not sure if this has been seen by anyone yet):

3-D printer makes parts from moon rock

http://news.wsu.edu/Pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=34094&PageID=/

[Rocket Science]

And something they could do with the material on the moon (not sure if this has been seen by anyone yet):

3-D printer makes parts from moon rock

http://news.wsu.edu/Pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=34094&PageID=/

Pretty neat, thanks for posting it!

[A_M_Swallow]

And something they could do with the material on the moon (not sure if this has been seen by anyone yet):

3-D printer makes parts from moon rock

http://news.wsu.edu/Pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=34094&PageID=/

As well as the items mentioned a larger printer could make tables and chairs.  If it is uncomfortable to sit on then chair legs.  These are items that take up a lot of room and have a significant mass so they are expensive to transport.

A larger printer may be able to make internal walls and doors.  Possibly even pipes and stands for solar arrays.  Big mass savings.

A mobile printer can make landing pads and roads, although we will need to know what the expansion coefficient of the sintered material is.

[Prober]

ARCAM, electron beam melting (EBM®), a member of the wide family of additive manufacturing technologies, makes it possible to manufacture components of extremely complex shapes within a single process.

Aha!

This Electron-Beam Melting stuff is really a technology to keep an eye on.
It has incredible potential whose surface hasn't even been scratched yet.

http://www.arcam.com/technology/ebm-process.aspx

Indeed.  Considering how small is the wave length of an electron, processing metal with a CNC electron beam is quite a mind-blowing perspective.   That could seriously make a lot of "room in the bottom", if you see what I mean.

PS.  The concept is not much new though, as a quick search showed me:

this looks decent....if you open source this it can be advanced into the Reprap and get millions of users working on it.
Prob first at the University level.

[KelvinZero]

And something they could do with the material on the moon (not sure if this has been seen by anyone yet):

3-D printer makes parts from moon rock

http://news.wsu.edu/Pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=34094&PageID=/

In the video the person mentioned 50-100 years before useful.. surely we can do better. I don't think the progress after 50 years in an area like this is even foreseeable let alone a hundred. Where was 3d printing 50 years ago? We are already discussing printing human organs! (Admittedly not from lunar simulant).

[Prober]

And something they could do with the material on the moon (not sure if this has been seen by anyone yet):

3-D printer makes parts from moon rock

http://news.wsu.edu/Pages/Publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=34094&PageID=/

In the video the person mentioned 50-100 years before useful.. surely we can do better. I don't think the progress after 50 years in an area like this is even foreseeable let alone a hundred. Where was 3d printing 50 years ago? We are already discussing printing human organs! (Admittedly not from lunar simulant).

maybe thats his time table for a return...just saying.

[sanman]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121119114157.htm

Regarding the EBM and amorphous glassy metal alloys - I'm thinking that the US govt should consider overturning patents on vital technologies that aren't spreading fast enough, just like it overturned DuPont's patent on Nylon back in the day.

In our increasingly patent-constrained world, I think that some minimum economic progress and industrial transformation has to occur through benchmarks patent-holders must meet, as the price to be paid for upholding patent laws. Otherwise, patent-holders and the patent system become free riders on the backs of society, holding back the innovation of others.

The amorphous alloy and EBM stuff could radically transform the manufacturing industry, if innovators could unshackled to pursue this to its full potential. The follow-on benefits for space would be obvious, just like how Musk likes to frequently mention friction-stir welding as a big enabler for SpaceX's rocket manufacturing.

[grondilu]

An other Wired article about 3D-printing.

Next Year's 3-D Printers Promise Big Things — Really Big Things

Several techniques mentionned, including:

« Concept Laser

Concept Laser produces high-quality parts by melting metal powders using — surprise — high-powered lasers. Their systems can process precious metals to create jewelry, or high-performance titanium to create turbine components for jet engines. While hobbyist 3-D printers are experimenting with wooden filaments, Concept Laser is making medical-grade products out of stainless steel and pure titanium.
»

Few years ago I read that Titanium is a fantastic metal but one of its disadvantage is that it is very hard to process.  Hopefully 3-D printing could change that.

[sanman]

Here's an interesting article about a satellite manufactured by 3D printing, which aims to be put in orbit:

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/12/3-d-printed-satellite/

[catdlr]

3-D Printers On Moon To Print Space Parts? | Video

Published on Dec 4, 2012 by VideoFromSpace

Engineers at Washington State University are using moon-like material supplied by NASA to print 3-D objects that can be used on the Moon and elsewhere in Space.

Courtesy of Washington State University

[sanman]

If Earthly patent law restrictions are not extended to the Moon and Mars, then all sorts of components and products could be manufactured there, to facilitate the expansion of our industrial manufacturing base off-world.

Imagine a future where most manufacturing is done mainly on the Moon and Mars, leaving the Earth to be cleaner with less pollution...

[sanman]

Arcam, the leader in Electron Beam Melting technology is showing strong growth:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1065481-positive-news-for-3d-printer-manufacturer-arcam

[grondilu]

Imagine a future where most manufacturing is done mainly on the Moon and Mars, leaving the Earth to be cleaner with less pollution...

Doesn't pollution come much more from consumption rather than production?

[Robotbeat]

Imagine a future where most manufacturing is done mainly on the Moon and Mars, leaving the Earth to be cleaner with less pollution...

Doesn't pollution come much more from consumption rather than production?

What do you mean by pollution? Energy use? It is relatively evenly split.

[meekGee]

If Earthly patent law restrictions are not extended to the Moon and Mars, then all sorts of components and products could be manufactured there, to facilitate the expansion of our industrial manufacturing base off-world.

Imagine a future where most manufacturing is done mainly on the Moon and Mars, leaving the Earth to be cleaner with less pollution...

Sorry to rant, but what does one have to do with the other?

If you're going to ignore patents, you can do it with any fabrication technique.

And if you've got a 3D printer, and instead of buying parts from someone you're using his CAD data, what you might bring into question is copyright law, not patents.  Someone can have a non-patented design that's still his intellectual property.

And besides - why would you think that paying for something puts a barrier into using it on Mars?  I will be glad to sell to you, or license to you the technology for my pump so you can go build it on Mars with any fabrication tool you wish.

I find a disturbing connection between the "we'll just 3D print it" concept, which is a useful industrial paradigm, and the "we don't need to pay for anything and we can bypass IP law" mentality, which can be the downfall of this sector.

[Robotbeat]

Hey, globalism already does that.

And patent and copyright reform does need to be recalibrated to benefit the consumer much more. Over a century of lobbying has made IP law heavily favor established players at the expense of the public good. We shouldn't make this stuff under lock and key forever.

But the idea of Mars (or space in general) as an IP-law-free economic development zone may be a worthwhile idea... What if you could produce patented drugs on Mars or something? That may be value-dense enough to work.

[QuantumG]

Or it might just be completely offtopic.