Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2021 - 45

Moving Platform for 3D Printing Reduces Waste and Costs
A low-cost, dynamically controlled surface for 3D printers reduces waste and saves time.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
3
D printing has the potential to revolutionize
product design and manufacturing
in a vast range of fields, from
custom components for consumer products,
to 3D-printed bone and medical
implants. But the process also creates a
large amount of expensive and unsustainable
waste and takes a long time,
making it difficult for 3D printing to be
implemented on a wide scale.
Each time a 3D printer produces custom
objects - especially unusually
shaped products - it also needs to print
supports , which are printed stands that
A dynamically controlled base for 3D printing (center) will reduce the need for printed supports
(left), cutting waste and saving time. (Image: Yong Chen)
balance the object as the printer creates
layer-by-layer, helping maintain its shape
integrity. These supports must be manually
removed after printing, which re quires
finishing by hand and can result in shape
inaccuracies or surface roughness. The
materials the supports are made from
often cannot be re-used, so they're discarded,
contributing to the growing problem
of 3D-printed waste material.
Researchers have created a low-cost,
reusable support method to reduce the
need for 3D printers to print supports,
improving cost-effectiveness and sustainability
for 3D printing.
Traditional 3D printing using the
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) tech -
nique prints layer-by-layer directly onto a
static metal surface. The new prototype
instead uses a programmable, dynamically
controlled surface made of moveable
metal pins to replace the printed
supports. The pins rise up as the printer
progressively builds the product.
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Tech Briefs, September 2021
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Tech Briefs Magazine - September 2021

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